Chinese exports to India rely strongly on manufactured items: Sitharaman

New Delhi, Apr 25 (KNN) India's increasing trade deficit with China can be attributed primarily to the fact that Chinese exports to India rely strongly on manufactured items to meet the demand of fast expanding sectors like telecom and power,  Commerce & Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said. 

In a reply to the Parliament today, she said India's exports to China are characterized by primarily and intermediate products.

The Minister said India's trade deficit with China stood at $48.68 billion during 2015-16 (April-February) and the total bilateral trade was $65.16 billion during the period. 

Due to unacceptable quality or for not following security codes, India has banned import of milk an milk products, certain mobile phones and a few other items from China, she informed the Parliament  today.

Sitharaman today that India banned import of milk and milk products from China as their quality was unacceptable.

Sitharaman said some mobile phones, which do not carry International Mobile Station Equipment Identity number or other security features,  and some steel products have also been banned from importing from China. 

"Complete ban of import from any country is not possible now due to WTO rules even if we have problems diplomatically, territorially or militarily," she said.