New border deal on Army chief’s agenda for China visit today
2 July 2014 11:21 PM GMT
Operationalisation of a new border defence agreement to deal with recurring troop incursions along the LAC besides improving defence ties, is expected to top the agenda of General Bikram Singh as he starts a rare visit by an Indian army chief to China from on Wednesday. ‘Currently India and China maintain exchanges and cooperation at various levels. This is very significant for the two countries,’ Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said here on Tuesday.
‘The visit you mentioned will be an important event in military to military exchanges between China and India,’ he said commenting on Singh’s visit at a media briefing. ‘We wish full success of this visit so that the mutual trust between the two armies can be enhanced,’ he said. To deal with tensions arising out of the incursions by both sides, Indiaand China signed the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) last year.
Singh’s visit was aimed at implementing a number of steps incorporated by BDCA on the ground, officials said. The Indian army chief’s four-day visit is taking place after a gap of nine years.
Former army chief Gen NC Vij visited China in 2005 after which military ties remained frozen until the last two years when defence ties gained momentum following improvement in political and economic relations.
Earlier commenting on Singh’s visit, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said it is part of efforts by the two defence establishments and the two militaries to conduct a number of important military exchanges.
‘The visit you mentioned will be an important event in military to military exchanges between China and India,’ he said commenting on Singh’s visit at a media briefing. ‘We wish full success of this visit so that the mutual trust between the two armies can be enhanced,’ he said. To deal with tensions arising out of the incursions by both sides, Indiaand China signed the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) last year.
Singh’s visit was aimed at implementing a number of steps incorporated by BDCA on the ground, officials said. The Indian army chief’s four-day visit is taking place after a gap of nine years.
Former army chief Gen NC Vij visited China in 2005 after which military ties remained frozen until the last two years when defence ties gained momentum following improvement in political and economic relations.
Earlier commenting on Singh’s visit, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said it is part of efforts by the two defence establishments and the two militaries to conduct a number of important military exchanges.
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