Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Dec 16: Northern Army Commander Lt Gen DS Hooda, who is heading eight members high level delegation to China on six days visit, today met Deputy Chief of General Staff of People’s Liberation Army (PLA) at the Chinese Army Headquarters during which they discussed steps to maintain peace and tranquility along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two countries.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the Army Commanders of India and China held very fruitful discussions during the past two days after the Indian delegation reached Beijing on December 14 on six days visit to the neighbouring country, the first by Northern Command chief after Lt Gen BS Jaswal was denied visa to visit China in 2010 by that country on the ground that he was posted in the disputed territory.
Official sources told the Excelsior that the talks between the Army officials of India and China were progressing smoothly and PLA Commanders had given very encouraging response to the Northern Command delegation especially on maintaining peace on the LAC pending settlement of boundary disputes between the two neighbours.
India and Pakistan shared 4076 kilometers LAC running in five States including Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh. Of this, 676 kilometers LAC falls in Ladakh sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
Sources said during the talks between Lt Gen Hooda and Gen Qi Jianguo, Deputy Chief of General Staff, PLA, the two sides hoped to further strengthen the bilateral defence exchanges by enhancing the frequency of interactions between the two Armies
“Both sides agreed that in the recent past, the political and military interactions between the two countries has increased which has been instrumental in achieving the aim of the leaders of both countries during their bilateral visits to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation,” sources said, adding that the two countries have also agreed to further cooperate on issues of fighting terrorism which is affecting both the countries.
China had, of late, started facing terrorism in its Xinjiang province, where only in September this year, the militants had gunned down 18 persons. Other acts of terrorism have also been reported in this province.
As Indian Army has vast experience in tackling terrorism for past several years, the PLA officials wanted to gain from the Indian delegation, which comprised one Major General, two Brigadiers and four Colonels of the Northern Command and is headed by Lt Gen Hooda.
Sources said apart from peace along the LAC, the two sides were also expected to discuss incursions and reach agreement to stop them. The incursions were the result of un-demarcated boundary between the two countries.
During his visit, the Indian Army delegation will call on PLA chief Gen Fang Fanghui and Lanzhou Military Region Commander Liu Yuejun, who is expected to pay reciprocal visit to New Delhi including Northern Command in Jammu and Kashmir next year
The Lanzhou Military Region of China is very significant for India as it was one of the seven military regions of China as it directs military and armed police forces in Xinjiang, Qinghai, Gansu, Ningxia and Shaanxi besides Ali area of Northwest Tibet. Some of these regions fall opposite Ladakh sector.
The purpose of the Indian military delegation to China was to work out sound mechanism to avoid incursions in Ladakh and other parts of the LAC and maintain peace and tranquility.
China and India in recent years have held very frequent interaction at the Government level. In response to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to India last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited China in May this year. During the just-concluded East Asian Cooperation leaders’ meeting, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Modi also had close interaction.
“However, due to historical reasons and other aspects of the status quo between the two countries in military exchanges has been slow, but they will get a boost after the visit of Indian Army delegation to China followed by Lanzhou Military Region Commander to India next year.
As reported, the two sides could discuss setting up of hotline contact between Northern Army Commander and Lanzhou Military Region Commander to settle the disputes arising out of any incursions along the LAC in Ladakh sector.
In addition to this, the two sides would also discuss opening of more Border Meeting Points (BMPs) in Ladakh sector. A new BMP was opened this year in Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO) sector taking total number of BMPs in Leh to two. The previous meeting point was Chushul.
Barring two (one each in 2014 and 2015), no major incursions have been reported from the PLA in Leh sector during the past two years. Both the incursions were resolved at local level within few days. Indian troops this year had gone aggressive and demolished surveillance camera installed by the PLA on Indian side of the LAC.
India-China militaries have held five rounds of counter terrorism exercises in the last few years.
Lt Gen Hooda is the first Northern area Commander to visit China since Beijing denied regular visa to his predecessor Lt Gen B S Jaswal in 2010 on the grounds that his command area included the “disputed” Jammu and Kashmir, which sparked a diplomatic row between the two countries.
During that time China also resorted to issuing “stapled visas” to residents of Jammu and Kashmir on the same grounds which drew strong protests from India. In retaliation, New Delhi also cancelled all military-to-military exchanges.
Indian officials argued that the bilateral military-to- military ties are not complete without the visit of the Northern Commander.
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