| The 9th Kunming-to-Kolkata (K2K) forum ended on Friday with a declaration that proposes to go ahead with the 'economic corridor' connecting the two cities through Bangladesh and Myanmar. "We have to take this economic corridor forward and sooner we make progress, the better," said Kong Can, head of the 54-member Chinese delegation that participated at the 9th K2K forum in Kolkata on Nov21-22. |
"I am sure progress will be made. This growth corridor will benefit the frontier regions of the two countries," said Srinivasan, a former Indian Foreign Secretary.
He said apart from trade and business, cooperation between the academia of the two countries will also go forward.
Several MoUs were signed between universities of Yunnan and West Bengal on the last day of the K2K forum.
Many chambers of commerce in Yunnan and West Bengal also signed MoUs to explore possibility of investment and trade.
Kolkata and Kunming were declared sister cities during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's October visit to China.
"The whole idea is the fruit of the K2K process that has gone on for more than a decade," said Binoda Mishra, Secretary General of the K2K forum.
The K2K process is a civilian initiative that aims to boost sub-regional cooperation between China's frontier province of Yunnan and India's eastern and northeastern region.
"Now the K2K is seen as integral to the larger BCIM process that involves Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar. It complements the four-nation initiative for greater economic integration," Mishra said, speaking to bdnews24.com.
The 9th K2K forum was kicked off by West Bengal Governor MK Narayanan , a former National Security Advisor of India.
"The K2K has done much to carry forward the cause of sub-regional cooperation. India and China have areas of tensions but processes such as K2K help in highlighting the positives of our two great countries and carry forward the efforts to improve relations," Narayanan said.
He said the K2K process will go a long way to help the frontier regions of the two countries benefit from trade and cultural exchanges.
West Bengal Industries Minister Partha Chatterjee said his government was keen to attract Chinese investments.
The head of the Chinese delegation, Kong Can, said the Yunnan provincial government was keen on setting up K2K industrial parks at Kunming and Kolkata.
"The Indian industry can set up units in the park in Kunming and the Chinese can do that in the park in Kolkata. Through this process, we can leverage each other's strengths," said Can.
He added once the parks took off, they can be developed into industrial zones over a wider region.
"That is how we propose to carry forward the K2K process and help it boost the BCIM," he further said.
In the 9th K2K forum, there were representatives from other eastern and northeastern states.
Tripura's Industry Minister Jitendra Chaudhury said his government was keen to atttract Chinese investments through the K2K and BCIM process.
Officials from Bihar and Manipur echoed the same view.
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