India and China eye border trade resumption
Past trade across the icy and high-altitude Himalayan border passes between the neighbours was usually small in volume, but any resumption is significant for its symbolism.
The two major economic powers have long competed for strategic influence across South Asia.
But caught in global trade and geopolitical turbulence triggered by US President Donald Trump's tariff regime, the countries have moved to mend ties.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is expected for talks in New Delhi on Monday, according to Indian media, after his counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar visited Beijing in July.
That, as well as agreements to resume direct flights and issue tourist visas, has been seen as an effort to rebuild a relationship damaged after a deadly border clash in 2020 between their nations' troops.
'For a long time, China-India border trade cooperation has played an important role in improving the lives of people living along the border,' China's foreign ministry said in a statement to AFP on Thursday.
India's Modi to visit China for first time in 7 years as tensions with US rise
It added that the two sides have 'reached a consensus on cross-border exchanges and cooperation, including resumption of border trade'.
New Delhi's junior foreign minister, Kirti Vardhan Singh, told parliament last week that 'India has engaged with the Chinese side to facilitate the resumption of border trade'.
No restart date was given by either side.
Successive US administrations have seen India as a longstanding ally with like-minded interests when it comes to China.
India is part of the Quad security alliance with the United States, as well as Australia and Japan.
But ties between New Delhi and Washington have been strained by Trump's ultimatum for India to end its purchases of Russian oil, a key source of revenue for Moscow as it wages its military offensive in Ukraine.
The United States will double new import tariffs on India from 25 percent to 50 percent by August 27 if New Delhi does not switch crude suppliers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to Indian media, might also visit China in late August. It would be Modi's first visit since 2018, although it has not been confirmed officially.
Beijing has said that 'China welcomes Prime Minister Modi' for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit opening on August 31.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Express Tribune
25 minutes ago
- Express Tribune
Air Canada workers picket airports after flight attendants strike over wages
People hold placards as a strike begins after the union representing Air Canada's 10,000 flight attendants failed to reach an agreement with the airline, at Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport in Dorval, Quebec, Canada August 16, REUTERS Hundreds of Air Canada employees formed picket lines outside major Canadian airports and business leaders sought government intervention on Saturday, hours after unionized flight attendants walked off the job over a wage contract dispute. The strike, which started just before 1 a.m. EDT (0500 GMT), forced Canada's largest airline to cancel all of its 700 daily flights, affecting more than 100,000 travelers who had to find alternative flights or stay put. The airline said in a statement on Saturday that it has started locking out thousands of flight attendants in response to the strike action. The carrier had offered a 38% increase in total compensation for flight attendants over four years, with a 25% raise in the first year, which the Canadian Union of Public Employees said was insufficient. CUPE, representing more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants, confirmed the work stoppage in a social media post. It is the first strike by Air Canada flight attendants since 1985. Wesley Lesosky, president of the Air Canada component of CUPE, said in a press conference in Toronto that, as of Saturday morning, there were no bargaining sessions scheduled between the two sides, which have held on-and-off negotiations for months. Read More: Canada sheds 40,800 jobs as tariffs dent hiring "We are here because Air Canada forces us to work for free for hours and hours every day, and we are here because we are not going to accept it anymore," he said. Outside Toronto Pearson International Airport - the country's busiest - hundreds of cabin crew waved flags, banners and picket signs. Union officials called on members to assemble outside all of the country's major airports, including in Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver. Montreal-based Air Canada said the suspended flights included those operated by its budget arm, Air Canada Rouge. The stoppage would affect about 130,000 customers a day, the carrier said in a statement. Flights by Air Canada's regional affiliates - Air Canada Jazz and PAL Airlines - will operate as usual. Wage dispute The dispute between the union and the airline centers on wages. Attendants are currently paid only when their plane is moving. The union is seeking compensation for time spent on the ground between flights and when helping passengers board. A US judge kept his block on President Donald Trump's buyout plan for federal employees in place on Monday. The union has said Air Canada offered to compensate flight attendants for some work that is now unpaid but only at 50% of their hourly rate. A source close to the negotiations told Reuters the union is looking for parity on wages with Canadian leisure carrier Air Transat, where flight attendants approved a contract last year that provided for total compounded increases of 30% over five years, making them the highest paid in the industry in Canada. Air Canada did not confirm if such a proposal had been put forth by the union. "What we're asking for is not unreasonable. It is not a high demand. It is not that far off other competitors such as Air Transat. It is realistic and it is deserved," Lesosky from CUPE said. The impact of a strike will ripple far beyond Canada. Air Canada is the busiest foreign carrier servicing the U.S. by number of scheduled flights.
Business Recorder
3 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Gaza civil defence says Israeli fire kills 22
GAZA STRIP: Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli attacks killed at least 22 people on Saturday, warning that intensifying strikes on a Gaza City neighbourhood were placing its remaining residents in mortal danger. Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said conditions in the Zeitun neighbourhood were rapidly deteriorating with residents having little to no access to food and water amid heavy Israeli bombardment. He said that about 50,000 people are estimated to be in that area of Gaza City, 'the majority of whom are without food or water' and lacking 'the basic necessities of life'. Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing swaths of the Palestinian territory mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency, the Israeli military and other sources. UN says at least 1,760 killed while seeking aid in Gaza since late May In recent days, Gaza City residents have told AFP of more frequent air strikes targeting residential areas, including in Zeitun, while earlier this week Hamas denounced 'aggressive' Israeli ground incursions. To Bassal, Israel was carrying out 'ethnic cleansing' in Zeitun. Israeli officials have dismissed similar accusations before, and the military insists it abides by international law. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet approved plans to seize Gaza City, one of the most densely populated parts of the territory which has been devastated by more than 22 months of war. On Friday, the Israeli military said its troops were operating in Zeitun. Ghassan Kashko, 40, who shelters with his family at a school building in the neighbourhood, said: 'We don't know the taste of sleep.' He said air strikes and tank shelling were causing 'explosions… that don't stop'. The Israeli plan to expand the war has sparked an international outcry as well as domestic opposition. UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in. According to the civil defence agency, at least 13 of the Palestinians killed on Saturday were shot by troops as they were waiting to collect food aid near distribution sites in the north and in the south.
Express Tribune
3 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Moscow hails Alaska summit as victory for Russia's Ukraine narrative
In the early hours of Saturday morning following a summit in Alaska between the leaders of Russia and the United States, senior politicians in Moscow were quick to trumpet the meeting as a win for Russia and its narrative of the war in Ukraine. "The meeting in Alaska confirmed Russia's desire for peace, long-term and fair," said Andrei Klishas, a senior lawmaker from President Vladimir Putin's United Russia party. He portrayed the summit as a coup for Russia and a loss for Ukraine and its European allies, who have been pushing for an unconditional ceasefire. "The tasks of the SMO will be accomplished either by military or diplomatic means," Klishas wrote, using the acronym for Special Military Operation, the Kremlin's term for the war. "A new architecture for European and international security is on the agenda, and everyone must accept it." The highly-anticipated summit on Friday in Anchorage yielded no agreement to resolve or pause the conflict, now in its fourth year, although both Putin and US President Donald Trump described the talks as productive. Read More: Russia readying nuclear-powered cruise missile test The two men met for nearly three hours before giving a brief media appearance and boarding separate planes home. Dmitry Medvedev, a former Russian president known for his hawkish views, said the summit proved that it was possible to hold talks without conditions - as Moscow has insisted - while the fighting in Ukraine rages on. Russia's flagship Channel One morning state news bulletin on Saturday stressed the pageantry around the summit, its global profile, and the warm welcome extended to Putin, who had been ostracized by Western leaders since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. "The Red carpet, handshakes and footage and photographs that are in all global publications and TV channels," it said, saying it was the first time that Trump had met a visiting leader off their plane at the airport. Its correspondent in Alaska said the two leaders had obviously agreed about a lot of things, but did not say what those things were. "The very fact of the meeting in Alaska, its tone, and its outcome represent a significant and joint success for both presidents, each of whom made a tremendous personal contribution to achieving the best possible result at this time," Konstantin Kosachyov, a chair of the foreign affairs committee of Russia's upper house of parliament, wrote on Telegram. Also Read: At least 11 dead, over 100 injured in factory blast in Russia Other commentators struck a sourer tone. Writing for War Gonzo, a pro-war Telegram channel with over 800,000 subscribers, one blogger praised Putin's remarks as "quite strong", but added that the meeting had delivered no visible outcomes beyond the mere fact that it took place. "What will happen next? If our strikes on Ukrainian regime targets resume, Trump will have a reason to declare once again that 'Putin is talking nonsense' and to impose sanctions and interrupt the negotiation process that has begun," wrote the blogger, Old Miner.
