China and Pakistan have for the first time signed a charter to step up bilateral defence cooperation to help maintain peace and stability in South Asia.

The agreement, as part of Pakistani Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali's recent high profile visit to China, was signed in Beijing on Tuesday after senior officials from the two countries held in-depth talks on the security situation in South Asia, diplomatic sources said.

The Pakistani side of the talks was led by visiting Minister of State for Defence Production Habibullah Khan Waraich, while his Chinese counterpart was Zhang Wei Min.

Details of the Sino-Pakistani defence charter were not available and China's state-run media kept silent on the major bilateral agreement.

Interestingly, the agreement has been signed a day after Chinese Foreign Minister Liu Zhaoxing, during a telephone conversation with his British counterpart, Jack Straw, expressed China's concern about the 'no-contact, no-dialogue impasse' between India and Pakistan.

China maintains that its military cooperation with 'all weather' friend, Pakistan has enabled maintenance of peace and stability in South Asia and was 'normal' under state-to-state relationship.

Jamali, during his three-day official visit to Beijing recently, had met with the chairman of the Central Military Commission, Jiang Zemin, as well as the Chinese Defence Minister Genera Cao Gangchuan and had impressed upon them to have a closer Sino-Pakistani Defence cooperation.

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What do you think about the story? Read what others have to say: Number of User Comments: 5 Sub: be good to your self instead of being bad to others China has always boosted pakistan against india, and this is logical as china makes business world over and makes business through arms sale thru pakistan. ... Posted by ngs Sub: The battle lines are drawn. Well, for those who had any doubts about the slant of the Sino leaders, this should seal it. It is China-Pakistan versus India for the ... Posted by Das Sub: china -pak defence China & Pak have signed defence deal thus accelerating the arms race between India & Pakistan. China & Pak have both very poor human rights ... Posted by ajit sreedhar rao Sub: Maintain voilence and instability What this agreement does is to maintain voilence and instability in South Asia. Who are they bluffing? Posted by Sumanth Sub: china pak agreement india should learn some thing from pakistan atleast for now, on one hand pakistan is able to bargain with usa and on the other hand ... Posted by arvind