India, Indonesia discuss South China Sea, inks tax treaty

New Delhi: India and Indonesia today inked avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income and discussed strategic bilateral and regional issues, including South China Sea in the backdrop of increasing Chinese influence in the region.

External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Indonesian counterpart Marty M Natalegawa co-chaired the fourth meeting of the India-Indonesia Joint Commission and identified specific areas in which both countries would be working together to take the relationship to the next high level.

"Prior to the Joint Commission Meeting, Foreign Minister Marty and I had very useful discussions on the current status of our bilateral relations and exchanged views on regional and international issues," Krishna said at a joint press interaction with his Indonesian counterpart here.

Asked about their views on South China Sea and increasing influence of China in the region, India stressed the need for freedom of navigation, asking all parties concerned to resolve the issue through dialogue while Indonesia maintained that though it was a fact that there were countries growing in the region, the growth should be "conducive" to the region's peace and security.

Natalegawa said efforts were on by the ASEAN countries to come out with a code of conduct for the South China Sea after the disappointment at the recent ASEAN summit in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, when they were unable to take further steps forward with respect to the code.