JOIN USIndia has begun negotiations with China on border defence cooperation agreement, which seeks to formalise practices that troops from both side follow in guarding the 4,057- km long Sino-Indian border.
“Negotiations for border defence cooperation agreement are going on. One official each from the Ministry of External Affairs and the Army have accompanied the external affairs minister in China. They have talked to Chinese officials. But it is too early to say anything on the outcome of the negotiation,” Defence Minister A K Antony said after commissioning the first MiG-29K squadron of Indian Navy here.
The agreement, proposed by Beijing a few months ago, seeks to put in black and white the standard operating procedure that troops follow while patrolling.
The minister said troops from both sides went back to their respective camps and decided to maintain the status quo. But the agreement does not dwell upon the development of India’s border infrastructure in any manner.