Longtime regional competitors China and India have agreed to strengthen defense cooperation along their disputed, and sometimes tense, Himalayan border.
The confidence building agreement was signed Wednesday in Beijing following a meeting by Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
Prime Minister Singh said the defense cooperation pact will help ensure the India-China relationship is not further strained by the decades-old border dispute, which flared up in April.
In April, India accused Chinese troops of setting up a camp that was at least 10 kilometers inside territory claimed by India. China denied that troops had crossed into Indian territory.