The March 16 notification by the Union government decreeing relaxation of the provisions of Press Note 3 issued on April 17, 2020 under which all foreign direct investment (FDI) from countries sharing land borders with India was taken off the automatic list and subjected to case by case approval of the Central government, is a decision that should be welcomed by all right thinking citizens.

PN3 was issued after the India-China clash in Galwan on the Sino-India border in Aksai Chin in February 2020 during which 20 jawans of the Indian Army — and reportedly an equal number of infantrymen of China’s People’s Liberation Army — were killed in face-to-face combat on a grassy meadow.

Now six years later, Sino-India trade has regained its pre-Galwan momentum, and PRC has emerged as India’s largest trading partner with foreign trade between the two countries aggregating $156 billion (Rs.14.5 lakh crore). However, the balance of trade is skewed in favour of China from whom we import goods and services valued (2025-26) at $125 billion, while the value of our exports to our neighbour nation is $20 billion. It’s hardly a secret that India Inc, especially the pharma, automobile components and light manufactures industries are heavily dependent on intermediates imported from China, and could well collapse if their inflows are impeded.

In the circumstances, it’s time for the hawkish BJP/NDA government at the Centre to start mending fences with our giant neighbour to the north which has emerged as factory to the world, overtaking the US in goods, products and services from automobiles, energy and affordable housing to glitzy baubles and bangles. For the BJP, the Sino-India border issue is a pre-independence legacy problem which several Congress governments failed and neglected to resolve. The current global geopolitical imbroglio and realignments offer a great opportunity to renegotiate Sino-India boundaries with bona fide give and take. A flood of investment from China will help solve India’s ballooning unemployment problem and transform the 21st into the Asian century. Carpe diem!