China Military Online
Zhang Tao
December 15, 2015
Lieutenant General D.S. Hooda, General Officer Commanding in Chief (GOC-in-C) of Indian Army’s Northern Command, started his weeklong visit to China on December 14, 2015. The Times of India quoted an Indian official as saying that India and China will “step up bilateral military engagements and exchanges to boost confidence building measures (CBMs) along the 4057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC)”.
The Times of India previously reported that Hooda and his delegation will “visit various military and civil establishments in China, including PLA headquarters at Beijing and Lanzhou military region”.
Daily excelsior, a news website in India, reported December 14 that “Heading eight members high level delegation of the Northern Command including one Major General, two Brigadiers and four Colonels, Lt Gen Hooda reached Beijing this evening and was welcomed by top officials of China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA).Official sources told the Excelsior that though the Northern Army Commander will meet PLA chief Gen Fang Fenghui, Lanzhou Military Region head Liu Yuejun and other top Commanders, defense experts and some senior leaders of Chinese Government during his six days visit”.
According to China’s Global Times, the Indian military delegation will meet with commander of the PLA Lanzhou Military Area Command (MAC) in Lanzhou, but whether they will visit important weapon systems and military facilities hasn’t been confirmed yet.
Daily excelsior expressed that “Sources said the two sides could discuss setting up of hotline contact between Northern Army Commander and Lanzhou Military Region Commander to settle the disputes arising out of any incursions along the LAC in Ladakh sector. In addition to this, the two sides would also discuss opening of more Border Meeting Points (BMPs) in Ladakh sector”.
“Sources pointed out that the talks between military officials of India and China would focus on working out a mechanism to ensure peace and tranquility on the LAC and resolve disputes, if any, on spot between the local Army Commanders”, according to Daily excelsior.
Daily excelsior commented that Hooda’s visit is of major significance and signifies “a change in China’s India policy”.
Qian Feng, a Chinese expert on India issue, noted on December 14 that the visit by the chief of Indian Army’s Northern Command indicates that the bilateral border control mechanism has become standard and institutionalized, which is conducive to promoting the normalization of the border area and the mil-to-mil relations between the two countries, especially when some sensitive issues haven’t been resolved yet.
As a commander on the China-India borderline, Hooda’s meeting with high-ranking officers of the PLA Lanzhou MAC will help boost their mutual understanding and reduce misjudgment during emergencies, Qian stressed.
At present, the PLA Chengdu and Lanzhou MACs are forces stationed on the China-India borderline. HuaChunying, spokesperson of China’s Foreign Ministry, said on December 11 that “We believe that this kind of exchange will help increase mutual understanding and trust between military of the two countries so that they could better manage border-related affairs and safeguard peace and tranquility of the border areas.”
During Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to China in May this year, the two sides agreed to enhance border defense cooperation and carry out annual visits and exchanges between the two Military Headquarters and neighboring military area commands, which were put in the joint statement.
Thus, the visit by the Indian border defense delegation is an important part of implementing consensus reached by leaders of the two countries.
The year of 2015 witnessed breakthroughs in high-level mutual visits between the Chinese and Indian militaries and security departments.
On November 15, China’s CMC Vice Chairman Fan Changlong led a military delegation to visit India. Indian media said that this was the highest-level Chinese military delegation to visit India in the past decade. During the visit, Fan Changlong met with Indian Prime Minister Modi, Defense Minister Manohar Parrikar and Chief of the Army Staff Dalbir Singh.
On November 19, Indian Home Minister Rajnath Singh visited China, the first by a home minister in a decade. During the visit, the Chinese Ministry of Public Security and Indian Home Ministry released a joint statement that vowed to intensify high-level mutual visits and establish the China-India high-level security and anti-terrorism meeting mechanism.
On November 28, Arup Raha, chief of general staff of the Indian Air Force, said in public that “We (India and China) are in the same region, we have common interests. I don’t think that we should look at them as adversaries anymore,” and that “Yes, we had fought a conflict, we have borders to settle. I think it’s time for mature statesmanship from both the countries to reconcile on many issues…and cooperate (and) coordinate (for) development in the region”.
Besides, Chinese and Indian troops have actively safeguarded peace and stability in the border area this year. In August, border defense troops of both sides put into use the fifth regular meeting point on the borderline, and in October, the two militaries carried out the “Join Hands-2015” joint anti-terrorism training in Kunming, south China’s Yunnan province.
