IOA agreement with Chinese

The Olympic Committees of India and China on Saturday signed an agreement that will pave the way for the exchange of sports experts and technical information relating to coaching and building of infrastructure.

The agreement signed between Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi and Chinese Olympic Committee president Liu Peng at the Indian Olympic Committee headquarters also envisages exchanges of sports teams for bilateral and multilateral competitions and training camps.

The agreement remains in effect until June 30, 2008.

"China and India share a time honoured friendship and over the past few years we have come ever closer on politics, economics and culture and even closer in the field of sports," Peng, who is also the Sports Minister in China, told reporters after signing the agreement.

"The signing between the two NOCs will take the co-operation to a new high level," he said recalling the visit of the first Chinese sports delegation to India in 1951.

In fact the co-operation between the two nations goes back to the visit of famous Chinese traveller Huang Tsang, who visited India centuries back.

IOA president Suresh Kalmadi said the agreement will see exchange of sports teams and coaches. It will help us in the design and building of sports infrastructure.

"We will also sent a team of observers to the 2008 Beijing Olympics," he said.

Also present were COC Secretary General Gu Yooming and IOA's Randhir Singh.