India China to bring new defence deal to avoid Doklam-like incidents

In order to strengthen bilateral agreement, India and China has decided to work together to formulate a new deal on defence cooperation and also agreed to enhance interactions between their militaries at several levels so as to avoid Doklam-like confrontation. The two-hour meeting was held in August 23, wherein decisions were taken between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and her Chinese counterpart Wei Fenghe, officials said. The main aim of the meeting was to focus was to build mutual confidence between the two armies guarding the 3,500-km border. The two sides also decided on early operationalisation of the future hotline between the two armies as part of confidence-building measures, the defence ministry said. Sources said India’s defence minister discussed about security challenges India has been facing because of cross-border terrorism. The ministry aims to bring peace and stability in Afghanistan and the requirement for freedom of navigation and over-flight in South China Sea. The sources said she also raised the issue of the $46 billion China- Pakistan Economic Corridor which is passing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, as she observed that it violates India's sovereignty. The meeting primarily focused on implementing decisions taken at the Wuhan summit in April by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping, which included improving the strategic communication between the armies of the two countries. Wei four-day visit in New Delhi, India, will aim to explore measures to build trust between the armies of the two countries. Doklam in the Sikkim is a deliberately important area which is claimed by Bhutan. India has been working as a security guarantor to the Himalayan kingdom in the sensitive region. In the meeting, both India and China agreed that the proposed hotline between the armies of the two countries should be operationalised soon. It was, however, not immediately known whether the two sides could resolve the issues, delaying its operationalisation