Both India and China are signatories to the New York Convention. In theory, this means that Indian courts should enforce arbitral awards made in China (which includes Hong Kong), pursuant to the terms of the New York Convention.

However, under the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996, India will only apply the New York Convention to the recognition and enforcement of awards made in territories that the Indian Central government has declared in the Indian Official Gazette to be territories to which the New York Convention applies. Therefore, even if a country is a signatory to the New York Convention, it would appear that the resulting award may not automatically be enforceable in India. That country or territory must also be gazetted by the Indian government, for the award to be enforceable as a New York Convention award in India.

To date, most signatories to the New York Convention have in fact not been so gazetted by India. Despite repeated efforts by the Hong Kong authorities to progress this issue, China (and by extension, Hong Kong) has not previously been one of the territories gazetted by the Indian government. Consequently, there was some concern over whether a Hong Kong award might be refused enforcement on the basis set out above.

As a result of the Indian government's recent decision to add China and Hong Kong to the list (albeit in respect of awards made on or after 19 March 2012), once this has been published in the Gazette, it will become clearer that arbitral awards made in China and Hong Kong are recognisable and enforceable by the Indian courts as a New York Convention award under the Indian Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996.