NEW DELHI, Nov 1: Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande on Tuesday held wide-ranging talks with Royal Bhutan Army’s Chief Operations Officer Lt Gen Batoo Tshering on ways to expand bilateral military ties amid China enhancing infrastructure around Bhutanese territory in the Doklam plateau.
Officials said the talks focused on various key dimensions of India-Bhutan defence cooperation and the two commanders reviewed the evolving regional security scenario.
Lt Gen Tshering’s visit to New Delhi comes three months after Gen Pande travelled to Bhutan.
“General Manoj Pande #COAS extended a warm welcome to Lieutenant General Batoo Tshering, Chief Operations Officer, Royal Bhutan Army and discussed ways to strengthen the #DefenceCooperation between the two Armies,” the Army tweeted.
The Bhutanese commander laid a wreath at the National War Memorial in honour of the fallen heroes.
He was also accorded a guard of honour in the South Block lawns. The Doklam plateau is considered an important area for India’s strategic interest.
The Indian and Chinese armies were locked in a 73-day stand-off at the Doklam tri-junction in 2017 after China tried to extend a road in an area that Bhutan claimed belonged to it.
India had strongly opposed the construction as it would have impacted its overall security interests. The India-China face-off was resolved following several rounds of talks.
In October last year, Bhutan and China signed an agreement on a “three-step roadmap” to expedite negotiations to resolve their festering boundary dispute.
Bhutan shares an over 400-km-long border with China and the two countries have held over 24 rounds of boundary talks in a bid to resolve the dispute. (PTI)
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