By IANS
New Delhi : India and China have decided to boost their military cooperation by holding joint drills between their armies and promoting visits of senior offices to each other's defence establishments.
The decisions were announced Monday on the return here of the Indian Army chief, Gen. J.J. Singh after a week-long visit to China.
"The visit marked a decision in the engagement and mutual confidence building mechanism by seeking to hold periodic joint military training exercises between the two armies," a defence ministry statement said.
A decision on the date and venue for the first joint drill was expected during Singh's visit but was apparently delayed due to the current friction in India-China ties following Beijing's denial of a visa to a mid-level bureaucrat who was to tour the country along with a large group of fellow officers.
Beijing says it denied the visa as the bureaucrat hails from Arunachal Pradesh that China says is a part of its territory and whose citizens do not require the travel document. New Delhi says Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.
Be that as it may, much seems to have been achieved during Singh's visit, with India saying it would consider a request for Chinese officers to attend courses at specialised Indian defence colleges for land, sea and air warfare.
Singh's visit was a follow up of a memorandum of understanding signed during the visit of then defence minister Pranab Mukherjee in June last year to increase bilateral military cooperation.
This was the third visit of an Indian Army chief to China and the first by a chairman of the Chiefs Of Staff Committee, a position that Singh currently occupies.
China and India fought a bitter border conflict in 1962 but in the last two decades have "upgraded military to military cooperation in a graduated manner", the defence ministry statement said.
This began from setting up a "peace and tranquility" mechanism along the Line of Actual control (LAC) and has over the past few years graduated to holding of cultural and sports events amongst forces deployed in the border areas.
Among the other measures they have taken are "allowing each other's military observers at military exercises and manoeuvres; facilities for attending courses at each other's military training facilities and finally leading to inviting high level visits by respective military delegations to each other's military establishments," the statement said.
Singh arrived in Beijing on May 21 to a ceremonial welcome by his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Liang Guanglie at the headquarters of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the top military organ of China.
He held wide-ranging talks with his counterpart as well as CMC vice chairman Gen. Guo Boxiong and other senior defence officials.
His schedule included a call on Chinese Vice President Zeng Quinghong and newly appointed Foreign Minister Yang Jiechie, as well as visits to operational formations and higher military training institutions like Beijing's Academy of Military Sciences.
Singh also visited various formations of the People's Liberation Army, including the 15 Airborne Corps at Wuhan and the 28 Air Division at Hangzhou, as also a naval base at Shanghai.