India, China ink key agreement, to cooperate in combating terror

India and China inked a key agreement on internal security cooperation to combat terrorism, drug cartels and human trafficking syndicates, as Home Minister Rajnath Singh met Zhao Kezhi, China's minister of public security, on Monday.

Minister of State for Home, Kiren Rijiju, who is from Arunchal Pradesh, was also part of the discussions. China has maintained it controls the state of Arunachal Pradesh, while Beijing has also protested visits by Indian leaders to the northeastern state.

Rajnath co-chaired the first India-China high level meeting on bilateral security cooperation, as the two sides discussed issues of mutual interest, including bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation.

"An agreement on security cooperation between India's home ministry and China's public security ministry, was also signed. The agreement would strengthen and consolidate discussions and cooperation in areas of counter-terrorism, organised crime, drug control, etc.," a home ministry statement said.

Kezhi is on a bilateral visit to India from October 21 to 25, during which he will also travel to Mumbai. The two countries have been making efforts to restore friendly ties after last year's Doka La face-off, which triggered a diplomatic row.

Indian and Chinese armies will also be participating in the 'Hand in Hand' military exercise in December, that was cancelled last year as a fallout to the Doka La face-off, which was finally resolved with diplomatic intervention that was followed by a series of measures to restore relations, after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Wuhan in April.