India and China's thawing relations should reflect in the economy. India is considering joining RCEP and CPTPP, two major free trade areas including China which could attract Chinese investment, particularly in green technologies
There is an overall thaw in Sino-Indo relations. It started with the Modi-Xi meeting at the BRICS summit in Oct, when the two countries decided to disengage troops in the disputed Ladakh border. Foreign minister S Jaishankar has just said in Parliament that disengagement is largely done, ending the military stand-off since the 2020 clash that froze relations.
Now, a big-picture reset of Sino-Indian relations must be explored. One promising sign of this was the new approach advocated in Nov by Niti Aayog’s CEO BVR Subrahmanyam. He raised many eyebrows and some cheers by declaring that India should join the two big free trade areas in the Pacific.