What happened to ‘Gujarati-Cheeni’ Bhai Bhai? End of Modi-Xi honeymoon or a pause?

Chinese companies initially set up projects in industrial clusters of Gujarat. But after 2014, they began to expand big time, even buying land in Gujarat (as opposed to land acquired by the state and allotted to them) and also asking for vast swathes of land in Kutch and Rajkot to set up units. The Chinese had set their eyes on the Gujarat coast, where the ports would enable them to export to Africa and the Middle East. The sea route from China to the Middle East and Africa is far too long. But if Chinese goods containers could come over land to ports on India’s west coast, the cost and time would clearly get reduced.

Chinese state owned port company Guangzhou Port invested in Adani owned Mundra port as recently as 2018 and shared technical knowledge and expertise. While ports like Mumbai and Tuticorin were not allowed to get Chinese investment, citing security concerns, an exception was made in the case of Mundra port.

Investment strategy of the Chinese companies while investing outside China, like any other country, looks for synergy in expertise, logistics and culture. Did Gujarat meet those requirements and expectations? Was productivity and skill offered by Gujarat really so high that they met Chinese production standards?

India’s opposition to China’s OBOR ( One Belt One Road) initiative, the ambitious infrastructure development project across 70 countries, on security concerns since the CPEC ( China-Pakistan Economic Corridor) passed through Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, did put a brake to the pace at which the elephant and the dragon had begun to dance. While OBOR was unveiled in 2013, China never made a secret of its belief that India should join it to benefit all countries in the region. Indian suspicion was also fuelled however by China developing the Gwadr port in Pakistan.