Photo: VCG

The partnership between China and India will remain despite the recent border clash between the two largest economies of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), Leslie Maasdorp, vice president and chief financial officer of the New Development Bank (NDB), told the Global Times on Thursday.

"These countries [China and India] are strategic, long-term partners in every respect. They work very closely together, and there is considerable trade and cross-border investment," Maasdorp said in a video interview with the Global Times on the NDB's loan relief program, which aims to help lift BRICS countries out of the economic quagmire caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It is very important to recognize the deep trade and investment links that exist between countries. Countries have political issues from time to time… but there is much more deep-seated, long-term partnership," Maasdorp said. 

Since the outbreak of COVID19, the NDB has provisioned $10 billion dollars for COVID-19 relief work and post-crisis economic assistance, with $2 billion for each of the five BRICS countries, according to Maasdorp.

China was the first to receive the so-called emergency assistance program, with 7 billion yuan worth of loans received by the Chinese government, which were used to support public health systems.

India has also received $1 billion in COVID-19-related loans from the NDB while South Africa and Brazil are also set to each receive $1 billion worth of loans.

The NDB is a multilateral development bank set up by the BRICS group of major emerging economics in 2014, with a focus on financing infrastructure development in emerging markets and developing countries.

"The bank has moved swiftly in support of member countries," Maasdorp said, noting that after the initial efforts to help sustain national health systems, the focus for the next six months is on economic recovery following declines caused by lockdown measures amid COVID-19.

Russia has so far not requested such a loan, though a request from Russia is likely, Maasdorp said.

COVID-19-related loans will work in parallel with traditional loans given by the NDB, many of which are focused on infrastructure projects such as ports and railways.

The NDB is equally owned by the five countries, which means each country has an equal say in the running of the institution and its lending activity, Maasdorp said. "Each country can borrow from us on more or less the same line."

In the overall NDB lending portfolio of $17.4 billion, about 32 percent has been used for projects in China while 27 percent has gone to projects in India, data from the bank showed.  

Global Times