Wednesday, May 30, 2007
International
India and China to hold defence dialogue soon http://www.hindu.com/2007/05/30/stories/2007053004821300.htm
Pallavi Aiyar
Decision taken by Army Chief during recent visit to China
Periodic joint military training exercises agreed upon Indian team given access to some PLA formations
BEIJING: India and China will hold their first-ever defence dialogue in New Delhi within the next two months, according to India's Ambassador to China, Nirupama Rao. The Army Chief, General J.J. Singh, took the decision during the recent visit to China.
The dialogue will be institutionalised into an annual event in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed in 2006 between the Defence Ministries of the two countries.
Elaborating on Gen. Singh's visit, Ms. Rao told The Hindu that a clear "emphasis on the development of military-to-military ties as part of the development [of] state-to-state relations from the Chinese side," was evident.
The Ambassador also highlighted the fact that Gen. Singh visited various People's Liberation Army (PLA) formations and institutions, including the 15 Airborne Corps at Wuhan, 28 Air Division at Hangzhou and a naval base at Shanghai. "Access to some of these places was given to Indian military officials for the first time," she said.
Despite having an unresolved border stretching for thousands of kilometres, the two armies also agreed to hold periodic joint military training exercises during the General's visit. The details including location, scope and timing of these exercises were still being worked out. Vinay Kumar reports from New Delhi:
Gen. Singh's visit was the third by an Indian Army Chief and the first by any Chairman of the Chief of Staffs Committee to China.
It was pointed out that the PLA was keen on carrying out anti-terrorism exercises, a field of low-intensity warfare in which the Indian Army has gained consideration expertise and experience by taking on militants and saboteurs in Jammu and Kashmir and the North-East.
Wide-ranging talks
Gen. Singh met his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Liang Guanglie, at the headquarters of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the top military organ of China. He held wide-ranging talks with his counterpart as well as Gen. Guo Boxiong, Vice-Chairman of the CMC, and other senior defence officials.
His schedule included a call on Chinese Vice-President Zeng Quinghong and the newly appointed Foreign Minister, Yang Jiechie, as well as visits to operational formations and higher military training institutions such as the Academy of Military Sciences, Beijing.
Military cooperation
The two Armed Forces have upgraded military to military cooperation in a graduated manner, which began from setting up a "peace and tranquillity" mechanism along the Line of Actual Control and has over the past few years graduated to holding of cultural and sports events among forces deployed in the border areas; allowing each other's military "observers" at military exercises and manoeuvres; extending facility of attending courses of instructions at each other's military training facilities and finally leading to inviting high-level visits by military delegations to each other's military establishments.
Copyright © 2007, The Hindu.