India and China were back to business on Monday, just a fortnight after their border standoff ended, signing eight agreements during the visit of Chinese Premier Li Kequiang.
The pacts ranged across several areas, including trade, culture and water resources, and were singed after the delegation-level talks between the two sides led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Premier Li. With trade imbalance being a major issue, the two sides set up three working groups: Services Trade Promotion Working Group, Economic and Trade Planning Cooperation Group and Trade Statistical Analysis Group. This pact was signed by commerce minister Anand Sharma and his Chinese counterpart Gao Hucheng.
The joint statement after Monday’s discussions noted the two countries have agreed to take steps to tackle the trade imbalance. “These include cooperation on pharmaceutical supervision including registration, stronger links betwen Chinese enterprises and Indian IT industry and completion of phto-santiary negotiations on agro-products,” it said.
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Pil for probe by sit, IPL halting
Age Correspondent
new delhi, may 20
A public interest litigation case was filed in the Supreme Court on Monday seeking formation of a Special Investigation Team to probe alleged irregularities, including recent revelations of spot-fixing, during IPL matches. The PIL has also sought a stay on the remaining four IPL matches, including the final, till the completion of the probe.