India hopes to lean on Bollywood to bolster ties

India has sought more space in China's entertainment industry, in a sign of growing confidence in its cinematic exports to the country.

Visiting Indian officials recently proposed the creation of two additional "working groups", one on culture and the other on pharmaceuticals, under an existing bilateral mechanism that covers infrastructure, technology, energy, resource conservation and policy coordination.

In his opening remarks at the fifth meeting of the India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue in Beijing on April 14, Rajiv Kumar, the deputy chairman of India's main economic planning body, Niti Aayog, called for the liberalization of China's entertainment sector.