DHAKA: India defence minister AK Antony on Wednesday said the inking of a new border accord with China was a ‘sincere attempt’ by both countries to avoid tensions on the border and would help to quickly solve any face to face situations that may arise.

The border defence cooperation agreement inked during prime minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Beijing last week ‘is a sincere attempt by both sides to tackle the border situation and avoid tensions on the border’, Antony said, reports The Times of India.

He was responding to a question during an interaction with media persons on the sidelines of an event at the Institute of Defence Studies and Analysis in New Delhi.

Asked if it would prevent situations like the April-May three-week face off between troops of both sides in Depsang in Ladakh area, Antony said he cannot foretell if it would prevent such incidents.

‘I am not an astrologer,’ he said.

BDST: 1702 HRS, OCT 30, 2013
RoR/GCP