India, June 7 -- In a major step towards strengthening animal disease control infrastructure in western India, the central and state governments on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to provide financial support to the Bharat Ratna Atal Bihari Vajpayee state-level Animal Disease Investigation Laboratory in Pune, said officials on Friday.

The agreement was signed between the department of animal husbandry and dairying, Government of India, and the department of animal husbandry, dairy development and fisheries, Government of Maharashtra in Delhi. It aims to enhance the laboratory's capabilities in disease diagnosis and surveillance across several states and union territories, said officials.

The Pune-based laboratory ha...