Connectivity, trade relations and investment opportunities between China and eastern India

Two of the oldest civilisations in the world and geographically close neighbours — China and India — have a long shared history of economic and cultural association. Nonetheless, recent bilateral relations have been encumbered by protracted distrust, military build-ups, and diplomatic disagreements. This has held back the two countries from achieving a lot more than what they have been able to.

Organised jointly by Observer Research Foundation, Kolkata and the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in Kolkata, this conference aims to bring into focus areas of cooperation between the two countries which would help overcome areas of friction.

The conference will explore the following four themes:

Connecting neighbours — A look into the ‘positives’ of cooperation through people-to-people connectivity.

Trade relations; bridging the gap — An examination of the potential areas of sustaining and improving upward trend in bilateral trade and bridging the existing trade gap through the removal of trade barriers and leveraging comparative advantages.

Investment opportunities — Discussions around the creation of success stories that attract, inspire and enable investments to be sustainable — especially in eastern India.

Sustainability and low carbon economy — Focus on learnings from each other as also from the best practices on the ways to move towards sustainability and low carbon economy, with special focus on water governance, air pollution, environmental conflict, and the critical roles of ecosystem services in development.

Read the programme.

Speakers

Anasua Basu Ray Chaudhury, Fellow, ORF, Kolkata

Ashok Dhar, Director, ORF Kolkata

Avijit Banerjee, Associate Professor and Head, Department of Chinese Language and Culture, Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan

C. Joshua Thomas, Deputy Director at the Indian Council of Social Science Research, Shillong

Chen Jinying, Associate Professor, School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Shanghai International Studies University

Debasish Chaudhuri, Adjunct Fellow, Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi

Harsh Poddar, Executive Director, Aris Capital, Kolkata

Lin Yanming, Research Assistant, Institute of South Asian Studies, Yunnan Academy of Social Sciences

Ma Zhanwu, HE, Consul General, Consulate-General of People’s Republic of China, Kolkata

Nilanjan Ghosh, Senior Fellow, ORF Kolkata

Parthapratim Pal, Professor, IIM, Kolkata

Preeti Kapuria, Associate Fellow, ORF Kolkata

Rakhahari Chatterji, Advisor, ORF Kolkata

Saon Ray, Senior Fellow, ICRIER, New Delhi

Sunjoy Joshi, Chairman, ORF

Yang Yishuang, Research Institute for Indian Ocean Economics, Yunnan University of Finance and Economics

Yue Zhaomin, Secretary General of Center for India Studies, Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences

The timing of this conference is from 9:30 a.m. to 5:15 p.m.