StormShadow
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Post-Sanya, India-China defence exchanges, halted for almost a year now, are set to be back on the track with a multi command Indian Army delegation scheduled to visit Beijing from June 19-23. More important, though, is the fact that it will be a senior ranking official from the Northern Command of the Indian Army who will head the delegation.
Maj Gen Gurmeet Singh, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Delta Force, would lead the delegation, sources said, adding Beijing has already cleared his name. Delta Force takes care of militancy-infested areas of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban in Jammu & Kashmir.
The move assumes tremendous significance given that it seeks to kill two birds with one stone. By deciding on an officer of the Northern Command, which is based in Jammu & Kashmir, to lead the team, New Delhi has sought to reiterate its stated position on its northern-most State that it is an integral part of India.
Secondly, New Delhi has also sought to settle the matter of issuance of stapled visas by Beijing to residents of Jammu & Kashmir, besides Arunachal Pradesh. For, it was the issuance of a stapled visa to Northern Command GOC Lt Gen BS Jaswal, who was based in Udhampur in Jammu & Kashmir that had led New Delhi to suspend its defence exchanges with Beijing in August last year.
Jaswal was not given a normal visa like an Indian citizen gets prompting New Delhi to stop all its bilateral defence exchanges with Beijing. China apparently started issuing stapled visas to residents of J&K from 2008 on the ground that it is a disputed territory, a stance which India had strongly objected to.
But India didnt stop the military commands talks and border exchanges. Now with the Northern Command officer-headed delegation to visit China, all defence exchanges with Beijing will start, a source said.
Sounding optimistic former Air Chief Marshal Fali H Major told The Pioneer, Perhaps its a step in right direction. Its apparent that the differences would have been resolved diplomatically. Its a diplomatic issue and not a military issue.
Relations with Beijing are improving and becoming better. There should be more exchanges. You need to understand more than confront each other, Major, who as the Chief of air staff had visited China in November 2008, said.
His visit was returned soon thereafter by the Commander of the PLA Navy Gen Wu Shengli. It was the first time that such high-level exchanges between the two armed forces were conducted.
Former Ambassador to China R Rajagopalan, who is vice-president of the Association of Indian Diplomats, said: Such contacts have been in existence at various levels, except for some (un-understandable) hiccups recently. The decision at Sanya, I hope, will firmly reverse that tendency. Prudence dictates that the two emerging powers do not allow issues to cloud the big picture.
The last defence exchange with China was the Annual Defence Dailogue in Beijing on 6th January 2010, it was the third round of the annual bilateral Sino-Indian Defence Dialogue, which began in December 2007.
India had sought to restore its defence exchange with China in Sanya in April when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing on the sidelines of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) Summit. A decision on resumption of the bilateral defence exchanges was the outcome of the meeting between the two.
The Pioneer :: Home : >> Mission China attests Kashmir India
Maj Gen Gurmeet Singh, General Officer Commanding (GOC) of Delta Force, would lead the delegation, sources said, adding Beijing has already cleared his name. Delta Force takes care of militancy-infested areas of Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban in Jammu & Kashmir.
The move assumes tremendous significance given that it seeks to kill two birds with one stone. By deciding on an officer of the Northern Command, which is based in Jammu & Kashmir, to lead the team, New Delhi has sought to reiterate its stated position on its northern-most State that it is an integral part of India.
Secondly, New Delhi has also sought to settle the matter of issuance of stapled visas by Beijing to residents of Jammu & Kashmir, besides Arunachal Pradesh. For, it was the issuance of a stapled visa to Northern Command GOC Lt Gen BS Jaswal, who was based in Udhampur in Jammu & Kashmir that had led New Delhi to suspend its defence exchanges with Beijing in August last year.
Jaswal was not given a normal visa like an Indian citizen gets prompting New Delhi to stop all its bilateral defence exchanges with Beijing. China apparently started issuing stapled visas to residents of J&K from 2008 on the ground that it is a disputed territory, a stance which India had strongly objected to.
But India didnt stop the military commands talks and border exchanges. Now with the Northern Command officer-headed delegation to visit China, all defence exchanges with Beijing will start, a source said.
Sounding optimistic former Air Chief Marshal Fali H Major told The Pioneer, Perhaps its a step in right direction. Its apparent that the differences would have been resolved diplomatically. Its a diplomatic issue and not a military issue.
Relations with Beijing are improving and becoming better. There should be more exchanges. You need to understand more than confront each other, Major, who as the Chief of air staff had visited China in November 2008, said.
His visit was returned soon thereafter by the Commander of the PLA Navy Gen Wu Shengli. It was the first time that such high-level exchanges between the two armed forces were conducted.
Former Ambassador to China R Rajagopalan, who is vice-president of the Association of Indian Diplomats, said: Such contacts have been in existence at various levels, except for some (un-understandable) hiccups recently. The decision at Sanya, I hope, will firmly reverse that tendency. Prudence dictates that the two emerging powers do not allow issues to cloud the big picture.
The last defence exchange with China was the Annual Defence Dailogue in Beijing on 6th January 2010, it was the third round of the annual bilateral Sino-Indian Defence Dialogue, which began in December 2007.
India had sought to restore its defence exchange with China in Sanya in April when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing on the sidelines of the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) Summit. A decision on resumption of the bilateral defence exchanges was the outcome of the meeting between the two.
The Pioneer :: Home : >> Mission China attests Kashmir India
