Ottawa, Aug 23 (IANS): China's Defence Minister Chang Wanquan and his Canadian counterpart Robert Nicolson have pledged to deepen bilateral military communication and cooperation.

Chang Thursday said military relations between China and Canada have maintained a sound momentum of development, as evidenced by frequent contacts between military leaders of the two sides, and their smooth and close coordination on global and regional issues, Xinhua reported.

Meanwhile, continuous progress has been made in the bilateral military cooperation, such as in military training, international peace-keeping, defence education and mutual visits by warships, Chang said.

Chang also said China is ready to work with Canada to enhance their military ties by promoting high-level exchanges, strengthening strategic mutual trust, deepening pragmatic exchanges and cooperation, and reinforcing multilateral coordination.

Nicolson said he was glad to see the two militaries engaging in positive interactions.

He said, as Canada and China share common interests in many issues, the militaries of the two countries need to promote dialogue and deepen cooperation in a bid to push their relations forward continuously.

After the meeting, Chang and Nicolson signed an initiative, under which the two countries agreed to promote high-level military exchanges and establish a defence coordination dialogue mechanism.