The Hindu : National : India strengthens military relations with China

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Wednesday, Nov 05, 2008
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India strengthens military relations with China

Special Correspondent

Two sides plan joint army, air exercises

This is the second time an IAF Chief is visiting China

Interactions picked up since Pranab Mukherjee’s visit in 2006

NEW DELHI: After inking a security pact with Japan, India is strengthening its military ties with China. Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal Fali H. Major, is in China while the Commander of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), Gen. Wu Shengli, is here for a tour of defence facilities and interacting with senior armed forces officials.

The two sides are also mulling over plans for a joint army exercise in India besides a joint air exercise in the Chinese skies.

Agreement with Japan

India signed the security agreement with Japan during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Tokyo last month, when high-level interaction with Chinese military hierarchy were being given the final touches. This helped neutralise the perception that New Delhi was tilting towards Washington’s key ally in the region.

India has also acknowledged Chinese sensitivity to mega multinational naval exercises being held in the Bay of Bengal by strictly limiting this year’s Malabar series of naval exercises to the partner country U.S. rather than opening it up to other nations as was the case last year.

Air Chief Marshal Major is in China for week-long visit till Thursday, marking the second time ever an Indian Air Force chief has visited the country. He met Commander of PLA Air Force, General Xu Qiliang, and will call on Chinese Defence Minister General Liang Guanglie.

He will also visit military units in Hangzhou and witness the Zhuhai Airshow in which the IAF acrobatic team will participate. The IAF Chief will also visit an air defence centre of PLAAF and the headquarters of its 28 Air Division.

The PLAN chief is here for an extended visit during which the vital aspects of the Navy’s defence preparedness will be showcased to him. Gen. Wu has visited the Army’s Special Forces Headquarters at Agra, interacted with the top military hierarchy and met Defence Minister A. K. Antony.

On Wednesday, the PLAN chief will be taken to India’s latest and most modern naval base at Karwar in Karnataka by helicopter where he will be shown the automatic ship lift and maintenance facility. In Goa, he will be acquainted with the Sea Harrier simulation training facility.

In Mumbai on Thursday, the General will be taken to the Navy’s aircraft carrier INS Viraat and given a tour of Mazhgaon Dockyards, where the assembling and integration of the sophisticated Scorpene submarines is being carried out. All these – deck operations from aircraft carrier and ship and submarine building – are areas the Chinese PLAN is interested in.

Slow and steady

India and China have progressively stepped up military contacts both at the headquarters and field levels since resolving to improve bilateral ties in the 1990s. The tempo and quality of the interactions picked up after then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee visited China in 2006 and signed a memorandum of understanding on exchanges and cooperation in defence.

The intention to increase military-to-military interaction was firmed up with the first defence dialogue in Beijing followed up with the first joint exercises in Kunming last year.

Corrections and Clarifications

The fourth paragraph of a report "India strengthens military relations with China" (November 5, 2008) was "He [Indian Air Force Chief, Air Chief Marshal Fali H. Major] will also visit military units in Hangzhou and witness the Zhuhai Airshow in which the IAF acrobatic team will participate." It should have been the IAF aerobatic team. (The IAF's Aerobatic Team, the Surya Kirans, are participating.)

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