PM Narendra Modi speaking in Ahmedabad on September 16, 2014
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hinted at the immense possibilities that could open with a free trade agreement between India and China and the creation of such a market.
"India and China today constitute almost 35 percent of the world's population. From a purely arithmetic point of view, the betterment of 35 percent of the world's population and that they decide to work together will open big gates for progress and development in the world," PM Modi told Chinese journalists in New Delhi ahead of President Xi Jinping's visit to India.
"The transformation of the lives of 2.5 billion people is a phenomenon of great significance for the region and the world," he added.
PM Modi went on to list some of the areas of cooperation that would benefit the Asian neighbours.
"India can benefit from China's strength in hardware such as creation of infrastructure and development of our manufacturing sector. On the other hand, India's strength in software can help Chinese companies to become more efficient and competitive. It offers opportunity for Indian companies to export services to China," PM Modi said.
The two countries have recently signed a memorandum of understanding for Chinese companies to set up industrial parks in India.
"If you go back 300 years into history, the largest GDP contribution in the world used to come from India and China, who together contributed more than half of the world's GDP," PM Modi told the journalists.
Xi is arriving on Wednesday afternoon in Ahmedabad, the commercial capital of Gujarat state, at the head of a high-powered delegation.
In a first, PM Modi will receive the Chinese president in Ahmedabad after which the two sides are to ink some agreements related to the region.