Beijing, May 27 (IANS) India and China Thursday inked an agreement on streamlining the visa system for airline staff and signed two memorandum of understandings (MoUs) for extending cooperation in the areas of sports and civil administration.
The agreement and the MoUs were signed after an hour-long meeting between President Pratibha Patil and her Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao at the Great Hall of People. Patil arrived here Wednesday on a five-day visit to intensify bilateral ties between the two Asian giants that are the world’s two fastest growing economies.
The agreement on streamlining airline staff visas was signed by Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Hu Zhengyue. Chinese Sports Minister Liu Peng signed the MoU on sports cooperation and Vice Minister Wan Xioochu signed the cooperation in the area of civil administration.
Indian ambassador to China S. Jaishankar signed both these documents as Patil and Hu watched.