India sending first military delegation to China in a year
June 16th, 2011 - 10:20 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, June 16 (IANS) After almost a year’s gap, India will resume bilateral military visits to China, sending a high-level military delegation headed by a general posted in Jammu and Kashmir June 19-24.
India had put such interactions on hold in August 2010 after another general was denied visit to Beijing.
Rashtriya Rifles’ Delta Force commander Maj. Gen. Gurmeet Singh, responsible for anti-insurgency operations in Doda, Kishtwar and Ramban areas of Jammu and Kashmir, will head the eight-member delegation that will visit Beijing and Urumqi in Xinjiang province in western China, government sources said here Thursday.
The delegation will also comprise officers from the Indian Army’s central and eastern commands.
Asked whether Singh has received a stamped visa, sources said the officer has received a “proper visa”. India has refused to recognize stapled visas as valid travel documents.
The Indian decision to resume defence cooperation with China was arrived at during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Sanya this April to take part in the third BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) summit.
In July last year, China did not issue a proper stamped visa to Indian northern army’s former commander Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal to lead a military delegation to Beijing, resulting in New Delhi putting all bilateral defence visits between the two nations on hold.
China had cited the “disputed nature” of Jammu and Kashmir to back its decision to issue only stapled visa for the visit to Lt. Gen. Jaswal, who then commanded the army’s formation in the state.
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