TIL Desk/World/New Delhi/ India and China has decided to work towards firming up a new bilateral pact on defence cooperation and agreed to increase interactions between their militaries at multiple levels to avoid Doklam-like standoffs along the disputed border.
The decisions were taken at a nearly two-hour meeting between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Chinese counterpart, focus of which was to build mutual trust between the two armies guarding the 3,500 km Sino-India border, officials said.
The two sides also decided on early operationalisation of the proposed hotline between the two armies as part of the confidence building measures, the defence ministry said.
Sources said Sitharaman talked about security challenges India has been facing because of cross-border terrorism, its views on bringing peace and stability in Afghanistan and the need for ensuring freedom of navigation and over flight in South China Sea.
She also raised the issue of $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor which is passing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir as she noted that it violates India’s sovereignty.
