India & China to sign fiveMoUs

New Delhi: During the three-day visit of the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, starting Sunday, India and China will sign five Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) across various sectors. The two sides will sign MoUs for cooperation in rail, housing, geosciences, land resource management, and traditional medicine sectors.

Briefing newspersons after the Cabinet meeting here on Thursday, the Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Mr P. R. Dasmunsi, said, “The Cabinet has given its nod for signing of these MoUs.” The MoU covering the rail sector will promote cooperation between Chinese Railways and Indian Railways and will be valid for three years. The MoU on housing will provide a basic framework for cooperation for the two countries in the sector, he said.

The understanding for cooperation in geosciences will provide an institutional mechanism for cooperation in the field, he said. The Cabinet also gave its nod for singing of a cooperation in land resource management, land administration, resettlement and rehabilitation between India and China. “The MoU shall facilitate cooperation between the two countries for mutual cooperation based on the principles of equality, mutual benefit and reciprocity on matters related to land resource management, land administration and resettlement and rehabilitation,” he said.

Apart from this cooperation India and China also propose to jointly plan and promote their respective traditional systems of medicine. “The MoU on traditional medicine will provide a legal framework to the cooperation between the two countries for the development of their respective traditional systems of medicines and adoption of common strategies for global positioning of these systems,” Mr Dasmunsi said.