Bianca Kong, a Hong Kong native, who studies Indian spiritualism and has traveled to India several times, was there on invitation from her Indian friends, she said.

The few other Chinese at the almost all-Indian affair were local journalists covering it and public security officials managing the crowd.

Many Indian traders from Yiwu, the world hub of small commodities, were seated behind the VIP enclosure, amid a bunch of students who chanted "Modi, Modi" intermittently. Arif Lokhandwala, a businessman from India's financial capital Mumbai, said India could learn from China's infrastructure-building experience.

Arab and Indian traders had helped develop Yiwu, he added, while telling me that he has lived in the East China city for more than a year now and can speak Mandarin.

When the prime minister arrived onstage, the national anthems of India and China were played, and then Modi said he was surprised to see so many Indians in China. Modi asked his fellow countrymen and women to help change Chinese perceptions about India, by convincing Chinese people to visit India. It is the demand of the times that Indians understand China and its people and Chinese understand India and its people, Modi said, speaking in Hindi.

After Modi's nearly hourlong speech had ended, I spoke with more members of the Indian community to understand where commercial ties between the two countries are headed.

Earlier in the week, Mao Hongtao, a former executive of a Chinese company wrote in a Global Times opinion piece, "... five main problematic areas when doing business in India: visa applications, business registration, payment, taxation and general efficiency".

According to Madhav Sharma, the Shanghai-based chief representative for the Confederation of Indian Industry in China, it can be challenging for foreign companies to deal with local market conditions and policies in emerging economies.

He cited Haier and Xiaomi as examples of Chinese companies doing well in India.

"Keeping a long-term view in mind, successful foreign companies have either invested in India, set up joint ventures or collaborations or even taken the M&A route," he told me. His organization is among India's biggest business lobby groups.

(China Daily 05/23/2015 page14)