The agreement between the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security of China was inked in the presence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chinese State Councillor Zhao Kezhi

by Huma Siddiqui

To further strengthen and consolidate discussions and cooperation in various areas including counter-terrorism, organised crimes, drug control and other relevant areas, both India and China on Monday signed an Agreement on Security Cooperation. The agreement between the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Public Security of China was inked in the presence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chinese State Councillor Zhao Kezhi.

According to sources, during separate discussions with Singh and National Security Adviser (NSA), Ajit Doval with the Chinese delegation issues related to the supply of arms and ammunition to insurgent groups of the North-east, besides urging Beijing to hand over commander-in-chief of ULFA (I), Paresh Baruah were raised.

In the absence of an extradition treaty with China, nor any pact to exchange each other’s sentenced prisoners, India is not hopeful that the ULFA commander in chief will be handed over admitted sources. There are at least 10 Indians in Chinese prisons and an equal number of Chinese citizens in Indian prisons.

Home minister Singh co-chaired the first India-China High Level Meeting on Bilateral Security Cooperation with State Councillor and Minister of Public Security of the People’s Republic of China Kezhi, where both sides discussed issues of mutual interest, including bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation, and welcomed increased cooperation between India and China in the area of security cooperation.

The visiting state Councillor and Public Security Minister Kezhi is heading a 15-member high powered delegation, which will call on the Prime Minister tomorrow. And will visit Mumbai on October 24 and scheduled to meet Chief Minister of Maharashtra Devendra Fadnavis.

After April visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping for an informal summit in Wuhan, China, in August a Chinese delegation had met an Indian team to hold discussions on the forthcoming visit of the Chinese Minister of Public Security and the proposed pact on security cooperation between the two countries.

While Singh is the head of eight central armed police forces with a combined strength of about 10 lakh personnel, Zhao is responsible for day-to-day law enforcement in China and commands about 19 lakh personnel.