1.   

German Minister on India visit to boost bilateral ties

German Parliamentary State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology Hans-Joachim Otto, along with a business delegation, is on a six-day India visit to boost bilateral economic ties. "Infrastructure and development are a focus area of Indo-German relations. With an aim of boosting these ties, Otto on Thursday is expected to meet representatives from the infrastructure sector," a German Embassy statement said.

2.   

Boundary dispute and trade ties to dominate India-China talks at BRICS meet

The boundary dispute as well as new initiatives to further enhance bilateral ties both political as well as trade following the leadership change in China will be topping the agenda when China's state councillor Dai Bingguo meets his Indian counterpart today. Dai, who is heading a delegation to the two-day BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) top security officials' meeting beginning January 10, is meeting Indian National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon today.

3.   

Container depot sought in Attari as trade increases

The Customs department has asked the government to provide a container depot facility at the international border here to handle increased traffic, as the integrated check-post (ICP) alone cannot handle it. “The ICP can’t handle container traffic. We have written to the Central Board of Excise & Customs for setting up an inland container depot (ICD) for the movement of containers and take up the issue with the Ministry of Commerce,” said K K Sharma, commissioner, Customs, Amritsar.Since the setting up of the ICP at Attari last year, the value of imports from Pakistan into the country has increased considerably.

4.   

India-China trade: working groups to meet next month

The three working groups on trade, services sector co-operation and enhancing investments by Chinese firms in special economic zones (SEZs), set up between India and China, will meet in February to negotiate various issues affecting bilateral trade and investments, Joint Secretary in the Commerce Ministry Asit Tripathy said here on Thursday.The launch of the first China-South Asia Exposition at Kunming where India was invited to take part was also announced at an event organised here by the India China Economic and Cultural Council.