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The pacts signed between India and China

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji has been in India since Sunday on a visit aimed at forging stronger trade and technological ties between India and China.

Following is a summary of agreements signed between the two governments during the visit of Zhu, the first Chinese premier to visit India in a decade.

** The Indian Space Research Organisation and China's National Space Administration signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space.

Indian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Nirupama Rao said, "This will include space science and technology, and space applications including remote sensing." The two sides will also exchange scholars and hold conferences of space experts. India's four-decade-old space programme has developed considerable expertise in designing, building and launching small "remote sensing" or earth imaging satellites. These satellites are loaded with high-resolution cameras able to show objects as small as one metre. Such satellites can be used to monitor objects on earth such as vehicles or buildings or for mapping terrain.

India has succeeded in building heavier communication and weather satellites. But it has to rely on Arianspace to launch these heavier satellites.

Last April ISRO launched its first Geo-synchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle capable of placing these two-tonne satellites in orbits aligned with the earth's movement. But experts say several more launches are required to prove the system reliable.

India's space programme has also been the object of sanctions imposed by the West for over two decades because of the potential for military spin-offs, particularly in the area of missile development. Since India tested a number of explosive nuclear devices in 1998, access to foreign technology has been further denied, leading to launch delays.

** India and China also signed an MOU on cooperation in science and technology. According to the foreign ministry, this agreement entails exploring cooperation in information technology, materials, biotechnology, astronomy/high energy physics and geology. A working group comprising experts from both countries is to be set up, which will lay out a road map for cooperation. Exchange of scientific personnel is expected to be the first step.

** The two countries also signed another MOU on sharing of hydrological information on the Brahmaputra river, which begins in China and flows through northeastern India. Such information is expected to help India anticipate the severity and better handle floods that almost every year are caused by the river. "We will be provided information on water levels and rainfalls, which will help us in flood control and disaster mitigation", Rao said.

** An agreement was also signed on boosting tourism between the two countries. This agreement will encourage cooperation between tour operators, hotel chains, and also calls for the setting up of tourism offices in each country.

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