Sources: The Tribune

The Memorandum of Understanding signed last week between India and China for cooperation on fighting terrorism, besides working together on many other issues, is significant. It can go a long way in handling the highly complicated problem, which has global dimensions. The agreement provides for the security agencies of the two countries to not only share information but also coordinate with each other on how to deal with terrorism effectively at regional and international levels.

The MoU, finalised during Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil’s three-day visit to China that ended last Friday, is important for various reasons. China has agreed with India that cooperation to eliminate the scourge has acquired urgency. It has ceased to be the problem of any one country or region. China’s wholehearted involvement in the anti-terrorism drive has its own significance as it is the only country, besides the US, which can make Pakistan —- from where the monster continues to get maximum sustenance —- dismantle the terrorist infrastructure that still exists there.

The India-China MoU is also a measure of the slowly but surely developing friendly relations between the two Asian giants. Both need each other not only for their own peace and economic progress but also for promoting Asian and global efforts in many areas. Moreover, there may be realisation in Beijing that closer India-China cooperation in various areas can enable it to considerably neutralise the impact of Washington’s keenness to increase its influence in Asia at the cost of China. Border and China’s help to Pakistan in military and nuclear areas continue to remain problems, but the MoU shows that New Delhi and Beijing are displaying greater trust in each other than before. That is how it ought to be between the two neighbours.