Three day organised 6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue(SED) was held in New Delhi from September 7-9, 2019 between India and China.
Delegation:
- The Indian delegation was led by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman(VC) of National Institution of Transforming India Aayog(NITI).
- The delegation from China was led by Mr. He Lifeng, chairman of National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)
Meeting:
- The dialogue was held among Joint Working Groups (JWG) on Infrastructure, Energy, High-Tech, Resource Conservation, Pharmaceuticals and Policy coordination.
- Senior representatives of policy making, industry and other fields participated in the dialogue.
Background of SED:
i. SED formation: Formation of SED was planned by both the Indian and Chinese sides during the Indian visit of the then Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao in December 2010.
ii. SED structure: Niti Aayog and NDRC conducts the dialogue each year alternatively in both the capital of India and China.
iii. First SED: The first SED dialogue was hosted by China at its capital in Beijing on 26 November 2011 and the second SED dialogue was conducted by India in Delhi on 26 November 2012.
Appointees:
Both sides appointed 6 Standing JWG along with co-chairs to address all the economic and commercial issues across various fields of infrastructure, pharma, resources etc.
Previous SED:
- The 5th edition of the SED was held in Beijing on April 14 2018, with the Indian delegation led by Dr. Rajiv Kumar, VC of NITI aayog.
- Event encounters: A special JWG on pharmaceuticals was framed by the Indian side to address market access and related issues under the SED umbrella. Since then JWG on Pharmaceuticals was constituted after which the first meeting of “Working Group on Pharmaceuticals” was conducted in May 2019 by the Department of Pharmaceutical in Beijing, China.
About NITI aayog:
♦ Formed- 1 January 2015.
♦ Headquarters- New Delhi.
♦ Chairperson- Narendra Modi.
♦ Chief Executive Officer(CEO)- Amitabh Kant.
Recently in June 2019, Amitabh Kant was given extension of 2 years till june 30, 2021 as its CEO.