NEW DELHI: New Delhi and Beijing on Tuesday signed a protocol to facilitate the export of Indian basmati rice to China.

It provides for phytosanitary requirements to allow the export of basmati rice, which will comply with the Chinese quarantine laws and regulations and World Trade Organisation measures.

The protocol was signed by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and the Administrator of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the Chinese Republic.

Under another memorandum of understanding, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, agreed to promote cooperation in exchange of scientific personnel, germplasm and breeding material, scientific literature, information and methodology and equipment.

Mangala Rai, Secretary, Department of Agricultural Research and Education, and ICAR Director-General, and Sun Yuxi, Chinese Ambassador, signed the MoU.

Another agreement envisages that the two sides support cooperation and development in forestry-related fields of economy, manufacturing, processing and science and technology. This will provide them a better insight into an important part of the other's natural ecosystem and the activities that influence it.

This accord was signed by Gopal Krishna Prasad, Director-General of Forests, and Special Secretary, Union Environment and Forests Ministry, and Cui Tiankai, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs of China.

Pact on education

An agreement between the Human Resource Development Ministry and the Chinese Ministry of Education seeks to encourage contacts and cooperation between the educational institutions of the two countries. For the two developing countries with a large human resource potential, cooperation in education will contribute to further broad-basing bilateral ties.

R.P. Agarwal, Secretary (Higher Education), HRD Ministry, and Mr. Cui Tiankai signed the agreement.

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