NEW DELHI: India and China have quietly taken a major step in their military ties, with both sides agreeing to carry out coordinated military activity in international waters.According to Navy sources, India, China and Japan, the three independent patrollers against piracy, have started coordinated patrolling in the piracy infested waters off Horn of Africa to improve efficacy of their operations.All other nations patrolling the waters in the region operate under one of the three international task forces — Combined Task Force 150 Combined Task Force 151 and EU Naval Task Force operating under Operation Atalanta.According to Navy sources, the three countries are carrying out coordinated patrolling with the assistance of Shared Awareness and Deconfliction (SHADE), a coordination mechanism for all counter-piracy operations which meets every three months. SHADE operates out of Bahrain.This is the first time that India and China are coordinating in a military operation, other than their agreements for peace along the Line of Actual Control and bilateral exercises. According to Navy sources, China and Japan have two ships each deployed for patrolling while India has one.SHADE has already worked out the full quarter’s deployment for the three countries and their five ships. This will help in plugging huge gaps that exist in anti-piracy patrolling, sources said. The three countries agreed to the arrangement after realizing that there were big gaps in patrolling of the area, and many merchant vessels were moving about unescorted. The gaps were also responsible for continuing piracy, sources said.