High Level Chinese Military Delegation in India to Implement Wuhan Promise

New Delhi (Sputnik) — A high-level delegation from China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) led by Lieutenant General Liu Xiaowu, has arrived in New Delhi to discuss border issues with the Indian military leadership. The delegation is returning from Pakistan, where it held high-level discussions with the commanders of the Pakistan military.

Defense sources told Sputnik that during the four-day stay in India, in addition to meeting with the top military leadership in New Delhi, the eight-member delegation will also visit Kolkata to meet the top leadership of the eastern command of the Indian Army.

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The meeting holds high significance since the eastern command guard a large part of the Sino-India border, including the Sikkim sector where the armies of India and China were locked in a face-off which lasted 73 days last summer. The Western Theater Command of the Chinese PLA steers the Tibet Military Command which bears the responsibility for preparing for possible conflicts between China and India in this sector.

"China is willing to work together with India to earnestly implement the consensus of the leaders of the two countries about the development of bilateral relations, accumulate strategic trust, promote win-win cooperation, effectively manage and control differences, maintain border stability, and ensure the sound development of the relations between the two militaries," Senior Colonel Wu Qian, Director General of the Information Office of China's Ministry of National Defense (MND) and Spokesperson for the MND said on June 28, when the announcement was made about the visit.

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Wu Qian had also mentioned that a special border meeting would take place between the border defense soldiers from China and India to practice yoga together.

"I expect more extensive friendly cooperation between the two sides and an accumulation of mutual trust so that we can maintain peace and stability along the borders and fully implement the important consensus reached by leaders of the China and India," Wu Qian added.

The Chinese commanders' visit is the first high-level visit after the Wuhan informal summit held in April this year between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Both the countries had agreed to improve communication between their military forces in order to maintain peace and tranquility at the border, including setting up a hotline between their respective military headquarters.

The proposal of hotline contact was mooted by the 2013 Border Defense Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) between India and China in the aftermath of major tension at the border due to alleged invasion of Chinese troops in Ladakh region. But the proposal had not materialized as both the countries were not able to reach an agreement over the level at which such communication should be established.