Vikram Doraiswami – Artifex.News

More Chinese investment good for larger relationship, says India’s envoy to China

admin — Sat, 04 Jul 2026 09:10:00 +0000

India’s trade with China has expanded despite the political freeze in relations since 2020. File.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Greater investment from China into India will be good both for the economics of the relationship and for broader bilateral ties, Ambassador to China Vikram Doraiswami said on Saturday (July 4, 2026).

The Indian envoy also made a pitch for greater Indian exports to China, especially in areas such as pharmaceuticals where India is globally competitive.

“Obviously, we would like to be able to export more to China. This is nothing unreasonable about suggesting that,” he said, speaking at the World Peace Forum, an annual foreign policy forum in Beijing, at a panel on protectionism and global economic governance.

“Particularly in areas where we believe we have a competitive advantage like pharmaceuticals. For instance, we’re one of the world’s big exporters of pharmaceuticals to advanced markets. We hope Chinese partners will work with us to ensure that Indian production firms, producing high quality generic medicines, being the same products that have been exported to the U.S. and elsewhere, can be exported to the Chinese market. We think there is a balance of advantage for both countries, including value for China and of course, value for the relationship.”

India’s trade with China has expanded despite the political freeze in relations since 2020. Both sides have begun a process of normalising relations following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in October 2024, in the wake of disengagement along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

However, trade remains lopsided with a ballooning deficit. According to Commerce Ministry data, China was India’s largest trading partner in 2025-26, with bilateral trade growing to $151.1 billion, and the deficit as high as $112.16 billion. Mr. Doraiswami noted that trade had gone up “regardless of the ups and downs of the larger political relationship”. India’s exports had recently also increased to China. “That means that the market opportunities there. We need to find ways of making it easier,” he said.

India continues to import large amounts of electrical machinery and finished goods from China, as well as a range of intermediate goods. “How do we find ways in which India and China can be connected with a widening basket of goods that both sides can provide each other, but also a sense that reasonable mechanisms to protect consumers can be applied in a way that enables India also to export more of the goods that it can export elsewhere in the world also to China,” he said.

“In other words, it would be easier to consider that the trade wouldn’t be exactly 50-50 balanced, but one side would have more exports, provided that exports consist of goods that we can also add value. If it is pure consumption goods, that becomes a little harder to sell as a reasonable mechanism for the deficit.”

On investments from China, he said “the policy environment has been specifically changed in the last few months to facilitate greater Chinese investment.” In March, India relaxed restrictions on investments from China that were imposed in early 2020 under Press Note 3.

Mr. Doraiswami said India was “willing, not just to help make the investment happen, but also to listen to their concerns and find ways in which we can offer more handholding assistance to enable [Chinese] businesses to come into India.” “That, I think, is good for the economics of the relationship. It is also good for the larger country-to-country relationship,” he said.

“As the relationship is moving towards normalisation, the government of India has taken steps to reestablish opportunities for Chinese businesses to invest in the Indian market,” he said. “We would like that connection to be better because obviously today it isn’t just India, but across the world, where Chinese inputs into the manufacturing process across the board, whether it’s chemicals, new renewable energy products, etc, is critical for international manufacturing.

That connects with the trade point. As long as the trade basket includes goods in which we can step up, value add, and [enable] production for our own market but also for export markets with the countries with whom we have now established trade arrangements and across the board, that would be an easier sell in India.”

Published – July 04, 2026 02:40 pm IST

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High Commissioner Vikram Doraiswami awarded Freedom of the City of London

admin — Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:49:00 +0000

India has appointed Vikram K. Doraiswami as the next Ambassador to China. File
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement

Indian High Commissioner to the U.K. Vikram Doraiswami was on Wednesday (April 8, 2026) awarded the Freedom of the City of London for his “outstanding contribution” to strengthening the India-U.K. relationship.

Mr. Doraiswami received the prestigious honour, dating back to the 13th century in celebration of significant achievements in public life, at a ceremony at London’s Guildhall led by the Lady Mayor of the City of London – Dame Susan Langley.

Published – April 09, 2026 07:18 pm IST

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China welcomes Vikram Doraiswami’s appointment as India’s new Envoy

admin — Fri, 20 Mar 2026 12:03:00 +0000

China on Friday (March 20, 2026) welcomed the appointment of veteran diplomat Vikram Doraiswami as the new Indian Ambassador, expressing hope that he will make a positive contribution to the sustained improvement of Sino-India ties.

Mr. Doraiswami, a 1992-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer, is currently serving as the Indian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. The 56-year-old diplomat was on Thursday (March 19, 2026) appointed as India’s new envoy to China. He will succeed Pradeep Kumar Rawat.

He is expected to take up the new assignment shortly.

Reacting to Mr. Doraiswami’s appointment, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a media briefing that envoys are an important bridge for fostering friendly and cooperative relations between nations. China welcomes India’s new ambassador and will provide all facilitation to take up his post in China and looks forward to his positive role in improving India-China relations, Mr. Lin said, while replying to a question on Mr. Doraiswami’s appointment.

“I noted that Ambassador Doraiswami has chosen a Chinese name for himself: Wei Jiameng,” he said.

The loose translation of the name in Mandarin, according to Chinese scholars, is Wei, a common Chinese surname that phonetically matches “Vi” in Vikram. Long ago, Wei was a powerful State during the Warring States period in Chinese history.

“Jia” meaning “auspicious or praiseworthy”, “Meng” meaning “ally”. Broadly meaning auspicious/praiseworthy ally, the scholars told PTI.

All put together, it can be said as “one who forms an excellent alliance”, according to one Chinese scholar, which carries diplomatic significance in the present context of India-China relations. Mr.Lin said China hopes that after assuming his duties, Mr. Doraiswami will make positive contributions to the sustained improvement and development of China-India ties.

Mr. Doraiswami’s appointment evoked considerable interest in the Chinese official media and the Chinese strategic community. A Mandarin speaker, he served both in Hong Kong and Beijing diplomatic missions in his early career as a diplomat. He served as Third Secretary in Hong Kong in his early career, where he earned an elective diploma in Chinese from the New Asia Yale-in-Asia Language School before moving to Beijing in September 1996 for a four-year tenure.

The Chinese official media has given a positive build-up to Mr. Doraiswami’s appointment.

Global Times, part of the People’s Daily publication group of the ruling Communist Party, has featured his appointment on the front page, with the headline ‘India appoints seasoned “China hand” as next Ambassador’.

“The position of Ambassador to China is considered one of the most critical positions within India’s diplomatic service… Doraiswami’s stints working in China have endowed him with a more rational and comprehensive understanding of the country,” Lin Minwang, deputy director of the Centre for South Asian Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times.

Mr. Doraiswami is a heavyweight “China hand” among India’s senior diplomats, possessing a profound understanding of China-India relations and China’s national conditions, Qian Feng, director of the Research Department at Tsinghua University’s National Strategy Institute, told the daily.

According to him, the latest appointment underscores the great importance New Delhi attaches to its ties with Beijing, and embodies a strong emphasis on both professionalism and pragmatism in stabilising and advancing ties, which is a positive signal.

By dispatching this senior diplomat to Beijing, India seeks to engage more precisely and effectively with China at the frontline level, thereby facilitating the management of complex and sensitive bilateral issues, managing differences and broadening cooperation, Qian said.

He said outgoing Ambassador Rawat made efforts to help China-India relations steadily emerge from their earlier low point.

Like Mr. Doraiswami, several Indian diplomats, including Mr. Rawat, studied Chinese and served in the Indian diplomatic missions in China. Mr. Doraiswami’s appointment comes amid efforts by the two sides to rebuild relations that came under severe strain following the over four-year military standoff in eastern Ladakh in April, 2020.

In the last few months, India and China have stepped up efforts to stabilise their relations, seeking a reset after the 2020 military standoff in the Galwan Valley plunged ties to the lowest point in decades.

The military stand-off effectively ended in October 2024.

Published – March 20, 2026 05:33 pm IST

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UK Gurdwara Condemns Indian Envoy Being Denied Entry By Khalistani Extremists

admin — Sun, 01 Oct 2023 02:43:23 +0000

Glasgow:

The Glasgow Gurdwara, where an Indian envoy was stopped from entering by Khalistani extremists, today issued a statement strongly condemning the incident. Hitting out at the “disorderly behaviour”, the Gurdwara said that it was open to people from all communities and backgrounds.

“An incident occurred on 29 September 2023 at Glasgow Gurdwara where the Indian High Commissioner was on a personal visit, facilitated by a member of Scottish Parliament. Certain unknown individuals from outside the Glasgow area attempted to disrupt this visit, following which the visiting party decided to leave the premises,” the statement by Glasgow Gurdwara Guru Granth Sahib Sikh Sabha stated.

The Gurdwara said that the “unruly individuals” continued to disturb the congregation even after the Indian envoy had left.

“Glasgow Gurdwara strongly condemns such disorderly behaviour to disrupt the peaceful proceedings of a Sikh place of worship,” the statement added.

Indian High Commissioner, Vikram Doraiswami, was stopped from entering the Gurdwara by Khalistani extremists on Saturday.

A purported video going viral on social media shows a man preventing the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami, from entering the gurdwara in Glasgow on Friday. Two men are also seen attempting to open the door of the High Commissioner’s car in the parking area. The car is then seen leaving the premises of Glasgow Gurudwara Saheb.

India has raised the “disgraceful” incident with the UK government. Junior UK foreign minister Anne-Marie Trevelyan acknowledged the video going viral on social media and said she was “concerned”.

“The safety and security of foreign diplomats is of utmost importance and our places of worship in the UK must be open to all,” she said on X, formerly Twitter.

The incident comes amid the snowballing diplomatic row between India and Canada, which was triggered by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accusing “Indian government agents” of involvement in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.

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