Article Posted on : - Feb 25, 2014

NEW DELHI (PTI): Pushing their defence engagement, India and China on Monday agreed on a slew of measures, including holding of joint Army exercise this year and strengthening maritime security cooperation while maintaining peace and tranquility on the disputed border.

At the 6th Annual Defence Dialogue held in New Delhi, the two sides discussed increasing the number of interactions between them at multiple levels along with the setting up of hotlines between the two Armies at brigade, corps and command levels along with a similar setup at their respective Army headquarters, Defence Ministry sources said.

The two sides agreed to continue to expand the exchanges between their armed forces to foster mutual trust and understanding.

"Both sides took note of the successful conduct of the Joint Army exercise in China in 2013 and agreed to conduct the next joint Army exercise in India in 2014," a Defence Ministry statement said.

Other agreed measures include strengthening of maritime security cooperation between Navies and officer exchanges and professional interactions at various levels of all Services, it said.

During the dialogue, led by Defence Secretary R K Mathur from Indian side and Deputy Chief of General Staff of the PLA Lt Gen Wang Guanzhong from the Chinese side, the two countries also agreed on increasing "exchanges in the areas of peacekeeping, counter terrorism and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief."

The two sides agreed that maintenance of peace and tranquility on the border was an important guarantor for the development and growth of the bilateral relationship between both countries.

It was decided that both sides should continue to take suitable measures in this direction, the statement said.

India and China noted that 2014 was being celebrated as the "Year of Friendly Exchanges".

In this backdrop, the Chinese Defence Minister will visit India later this year.

It was also decided that a senior level exchange between the Directorates General of Military Operations would be conducted in India in 2014, during which both sides would discuss practical measures for management of border issues, the ministry statement said.

The two sides also discussed a proposal to set up more Border Personnel Meeting points for their troops to interact along the Line of Actual Control.

At the moment, there are four such points and Indian side has proposed three more of them for enhancing coordination between formations facing each other along the over 4,000 km-long boundary.

During the meeting, the two sides are understood to have discussed the issue of incursions by the Chinese troops into the Indian territory despite the signing of the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) in October 2013.

At the meeting, "both sides exchanged views on a number of regional and global security issues of mutual concern. In particular, issues concerning the security situation in South Asia, the Asia-Pacific and the Indian Ocean region were discussed."

The issue came up for discussion against the backdrop of China's growing presence in the Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and Beijing's troubles with its neighbours including Japan over the setting up of air defence identification zones over the South and East China Sea.

"Both sides agreed that strengthening of strategic consultation and communication would facilitate sharing of perspectives and mutual understanding in the evolving regional security situation," the Ministry said.

After the meeting, the Chinese delegation also called on the Defence Minister AK Antony and the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee and Army Chief, General Bikram Singh.