China holds special session to promote Belt and Road initiative at IRF

China today held a special session to promote its ambitious 'Belt and Road Initiative', which India is strongly opposing, at the World Road Meeting (WRM) organised by an international body and supported by NITI Aayog and the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, among others.

The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, however, sought to disassociate itself from the session with an official later saying that "neither the ministry approved any such session nor the organisers apprised it about any such matter".

The International Road Federation (IRF), a Geneva-based body which is organising the four-day event from November 14 on the outskirts of the national capital, said in a statement that the China Highway and Transportation Society (CHTS) held a special session at WRM to promote its Belt and Road Initiative as well as introduce China's development of transport and newer technologies.

This comes against the backdrop of India consistently objecting to the controversial China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is part of BRI and passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. India has boycotted China's Belt and Road forum on sovereignty concerns and has been mounting diplomatic pressure in this regard.

"Any representation of this initiative (BRI) does not change or alter the position of India," official sources said when asked about today's session at WRM.
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January-December fiscal year gets thumbs-up from exporters

Exporters have said that any change in the financial year to align with the calendar one is a welcome move.

On Tuesday, the Madhya Pradesh government became the first state to announce that it is shifting to the January-December cycle.

On a national level, the Centre has also started making preparations for switching over to a similar financial year cycle. It had also constituted a high-level committee under former chief economic advisor Shankar Acharya to examine the possibility of making such a move.

“Since most other countries follow a January-December financial year, any move in this direction will be helpful,” said Ajay Sahai, director general, Federation of Indian Export Organisations.

This will allow for a proper mapping of India’s foreign trade vis-à-vis global trade, something which is difficult to do right now, he added.

However, on the business side, the move is not expected to impact exporters much, he added.

Economists also supported the argument that companies would not see minimal, if any, changes to their profitability and ease of doing business.

“Apart from some multinational companies who now have to do their tax and accounting in line with the financial year followed by their parent company based abroad, firms will not see any significant changes in their operations, said Devendra Pant, chief economist, India Ratings & Research.
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