The Hindu : Front Page : Pranab ends "highly successful" China visit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 03, 2006

Front Page

Front Page

Pranab ends "highly successful" China visit

Beijing: Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Friday concluded his "highly successful" maiden visit to China, which, he said, gave the much-required boost to mutual trust between the two militaries.

Mr. Mukherjee, who spoke at a banquet hosted in his honour by the Political Commissar of Shanghai Garrison, Major General Dai Changyou, in Shanghai on Thursday night, said his visit had given further momentum to the process of building trust and understanding and diversifying Sino-Indian relations.

It had helped in translating the thoughts of the top political leadership who had prioritised the areas of cooperation between the two countries.

"India-China partnership is an important determinant for regional and global peace and development," he said.

Defence cooperation

Referring to the first-ever memorandum of understanding on defence cooperation with China, which he signed in Beijing on May 29 along with his Chinese counterpart General Cao Gangchuan, Mr. Mukherjee said it would provide the necessary framework for cooperation between the militaries of the two nations.

Signing the defence MoU with China was befitting as the two nations were celebrating 2006 as `India-China Friendship Year', he said.

He was confident that there would be more cooperation among all the three services in the coming years.

The MoU envisages joint military exercises, training and cooperation. — PTI

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