India, China to boost military ties

India, China to boost military ties

INDIA: India and China announced on Monday a series of proposals to strengthen ties between their armed forces to help bolster a new friendship between the world's most populous countries, who went to war decades ago.

The proposals were agreed during talks between Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes and his counterpart Cao Gangchuan, the first Chinese defense minister to visit New Delhi in a decade.

"Both sides presented new proposals to strengthen and develop defense exchanges and confidence building," the Indian defense ministry said in a statement.

"It was agreed that training, including Chinese language training in defense institutions in India, sports and cultural exchanges and friendly interaction between border personnel...would be increased."

The two sides invited each other's officers to witness military exercises.

"This would be in the interest of building familiarity, trust and confidence so as to develop bilateral relations as a whole." -- Reuters