A top Chinese military delegation will arrive in India on Sunday to discuss ways to bolster confidence building measures along the 4,057-km Line of Actual Control (LAC), because not much headway has been made with regard to the long-standing boundary dispute.
The Border Defence Cooperation Agreement, inked between the two countries in October 2013, to ensure troop face-offs are effectively defused is yet to become fully operational and troop confrontations continue to take place all along the LAC, with eastern Ladakh emerging as a major flashpoint in recent times, Times of India said on Friday.
Defence ministry sources said on Thursday that the 26-member delegation led by General Fan Changlong, who as vice-chairman of the all-powerful Central Military Commission is the highest-ranking Chinese general, will be in India from November 15 to 17. “It’s the highest-level People’s Liberation Army delegation to visit India in a decade. But no major breakthrough is expected during the visit, though it might set the stage for the 19th round of border talks between the special representatives and the 8th annual defence dialogue between the two countries,” said a source.
The delegation includes other top officers like Admiral Sun Jianguo, a submariner who is in line to become China’s next Navy chief in 2017, and Lt-Gen Zhu Fuxi, the political commissar of the Chengdu Military Region that faces India. Interestingly, the Chinese delegation will be coming to India via Pakistan, reaffirming the long-standing close strategic ties between Islamabad and Beijing.
With both sides resorting to aggressive patrolling to lay claims to disputed areas, rival troops also continue to tail each other’s patrols, which was specifically prohibited by the BDCA. a proposed hotline between the top military hierarchy is yet to become a concrete reality.
