India, China sign agreement on internal security cooperation

The agreement was signed after Zhao Kezhi, China's minister of public security, discussed various aspects of security cooperation between the two countries with his Indian counterpart home minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi today.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed issues of mutual interest, including bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation, and welcomed increased cooperation between India and China in the area of security cooperation.

The agreement covers areas of intelligence sharing, exchange programme, sharing of best practices, cooperation in disaster mitigation besides others. 

The agreement will further strengthen and consolidate discussions and cooperation in the areas of counter-terrorism, organised crimes, drug control and other such relevant areas.

Zhao Kezhi is on a bilateral visit to India from 21 to 25 October 2018, during which he will also travel to Mumbai.

India, as one of the key emerging economies along the route of the Belt and Road initiative (BRI), is a partner that China cannot ignore as it seeks to diversify its international trade. China and India are the world's two most populated countries, as well as two crucial Asian economies. The cooperation between them is expected to become a yardstick of South-South cooperation, the Global Times wrote.

China and India are ancient civilizations and neighbors with a long history of friendship and there is plenty of scope for teamwork in fields such as trade, investment, infrastructure, the internet, culture and tourism, according to the newspaper.

Since 2014, the China-India economic and trade relationship has experienced rapid expansion, and it now drives the overall bilateral relationship. Trade totaled $84.4 billion in 2017, up 20.3 per cent from 2016, and China is India's largest trade partner. As of the end of 2017, China had invested $8 billion in the Indian market.

China and India have the need and potential to cooperate. The two countries are compatible in terms of their economic and industrial advantages.

India is a huge market for Chinese companies as they explore the broader South Asia market. 

The signing of the internal security cooperation pact comes days after China informed India about a landslide in the trans-border Yarlung Zangbo river or the Brahmaputra and activated the emergency information sharing of hydrological data on an hourly basis. 

China today said the flood situation in Yarlung Tsangpo river has returned to normal, which had risen due to the formation of an artificial lake created by a landslide + and blocking its main steam in Tibet, posing a threat to India's northeastern states .

China also said it will continue to share the flood data with India.