BEIJING: China and India have signed the border defence cooperation agreement which is designed to ensure that patrolling along the Line of Actual Control, as the unsettled border is called, does not escalate into an unintended skirmish.
The agreement was signed in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on Wednesday following a meeting between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
Under the new agreement, the two sides will give notice of patrols along the ill-defined border to ensure that patrols do not tail each other to reduce the chance of confrontation and will exercise maximum self-restraint should the two sides come face to face in areas where the line of control is unclear.
”I am sure it will help to maintain peace, tranquility and stability in our border areas,” Li said following the signing at a news conference.
