Army officer from J&K to lead "defence" delegation to China from June 24

[SpArK]

Army officer from J&K to lead delegation to China from June 24​

After nearly a year-long freeze on defence exchanges between India and China, the first Indian military delegation led by a major-general, serving in Jammu and Kashmir, will lead a delegation to China from Monday.

Maj Gen Gurmeet Singh, the commander of the Delta Force, a part of the specialised anti-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles deployed in J&K, will lead an eight-member delegation to China from June 19-24, government sources said here today.

India had put bilateral defence exchanges with China on hold since July last year after Beijing refused a proper stamped visa to the then Northern Army Commander Lt-Gen BS Jaswal since he headed troops in Jammu and Kashmir.

The reason cited for this visa denial was that he heads the command which comprises the state of J&K, a disputed territory according to China.

Asked whether Singh has received a stamped visa, sources said the Maj Gen has received a "proper visa". India has refused to recognize stapled visas as valid travel documents.

The decision to resume defence cooperation with China was arrived at during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Beijing in April this year.


Army officer from J&K to lead delegation to China from June 24 - India - DNA



A thread posted on similar title was deleted yesterday saying "where is defence in that".

So i am bolding the defence parts.

 

[SpArK]

Visit by army delegation to resume China defence ties
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India is set to resume defence exchanges with China this month—almost a year after suspending the contacts—with the visit of an eight-member Indian Army delegation starting on Sunday, a government official said.

Confirming the 19-24 June visit, an Indian Army officer said the delegation will visit Beijing and Urumqi, capital of the restive Xinjiang province and home to the minority ethnic Uighurs.

In April, news reports quoted India’s national security adviser Shivshankar Menon as saying that both countries will resume defence contacts in June.

The visit marks the resumption of the defence exchanges that were put on hold by India last year, said the official cited above. The suspension was in retaliation against Beijing refusing a visa to Indian Army officer Lt Gen. B.S. Jaswal on grounds that he was the commanding officer of the Northern Command that oversees Kashmir, an area China views as disputed between India and Pakistan.

“Last year, the Chinese did not accept the visit. They did not want any dealings with the Northern Command,” said the government official, who did not want to be identified. “Now, the Chinese have accepted that they will interact with the Northern Command. We also are sending a multi-command delegation— not just officers from the Northern Command” but from other sectors too, he said.

The delegation will be headed by Major Gen. Gurmeet Singh, general officer commanding of the Delta Force, he added. The Delta Force is part of the Rashtriya Rifles counterinsurgency unit of the army battling rebels in the Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban areas of Kashmir and is a part of the Northern Command.

China’s refusal to interact with the Northern Command chief was just one of the irritants that has buffeted ties between the nation in recent years. India was also upset by China issuing stapled visas to residents of Kashmir, and the reported presence of Chinese companies engaged in infrastructure projects in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The neighbours have shared uneasy ties since an unresolved border dispute dating back to their 1962 war. The Line of Actual Control between the two has been largely peaceful due to a number of agreements signed between 1993 and 2005.

But trade ties are booming with both countries having set a target of $100 billion by 2015, up from the $69 billion in 2010, during Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao India visit in December.

Visit by army delegation to resume China defence ties - Home - livemint.com

 

[debabratbarman]

guess china has realized that such stupid visa rules wont help in improving relation with india.

 

[SpArK]

Freeze over, Maj Gen to visit China - Indian Express

Sino-India defense exchange to resume after a year - The Times of India