India, China ink eight agreements on trade, water resources

NEW DELHI: Weeks after the flare-up on the border issue, India and China today sought to further improve their bilateral relations and firmed up eight agreements to enhance cooperation in a range of areas including trade, culture and water resources.

The agreements were signed after delegation-level talks between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang.

To enhance trade, both the sides decided to set up three working groups under the Joint Economic Group. The three groups are Services Trade Promotion Working Group, Economic And Trade Planning Cooperation Group and Trade Statistical Analysis Group.

The pact for setting up of the working groups was signed by Commerce Minister Anand Sharma and his Chinese counterpart Gao Hucheng.

In 2012, bilateral trade between the two countries was USD 66 billion, a decline from over the USD 74 billion mark in 2011. The two countries have set a target of USD 100 billion by 2015 for bilateral trade.

As per an agreement signed by External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, China will make further improvements to the existing facilities for Kailash Mansarovar pilgrims including providing them with wireless sets and local SIM cards.

The Kailash Mansrovar Yatra will be conducted every year from May to September.

Another pact was signed between the two sides under which China will provide information of water level, discharge and rainfall twice a day from June 1st to October 15th each year in respect of three hydrological stations on the mainstream Brahmaputra river.

A separate Memorandum of Understanding was also signed between the India's Ministry of Water Resources and China's National Development and Reform Commission for cooperation in the field of ensuring water efficient irrigation.

The MoU aims at enhancing bilateral cooperation in the field of water efficient technology with applicability in the area of agriculture and exchange of best practices.