Ahead of Chinese FM visit Sitharaman briefed on briefed on trade issues

New Delhi: Ahead of the visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi here, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was briefed by a top diplomat on trade issues between the countries. “Briefed by Indian Ambassador to China Mr Ashok K Kantha on issues and possibilities in mutual trade between India and China,” Sitharaman said in her tweet. [caption id=“attachment_1559575” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Nirmala Sitharaman. AFP[/caption] Wang will be here on a two-day visit from 8 June as a Special Representative of President Xi Jinping. Apart from calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Wang, a seasoned diplomat, will interact with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj. China has expressed keen interest in establishing high-level contacts with India’s new leadership at the earliest to step up engagement in political, trade and economic areas. On trade front, India has raised the issue of widening trade deficit with China. India has sought greater market access in sectors such as IT and Pharmaceutical firms. In 2012-13, India’s exports to China was only USD 13.53 billion while imports stood at USD 52.24 billion. The trade deficit was about USD 39 billion. This was against a deficit of USD 37 billion in 2011-12. PTI