Army Chief General Bikram Singh arrived here on Wednesday for a three-day visit – the first by an Indian Army Chief to China in nine years – aimed at boosting trust between the militaries and firming up plans for the most comprehensive agenda yet for defence exercises and exchanges set to take place in coming months.
On Thursday, General Singh will meet his counterpart General Fang Fenghui, who heads the General Staff headquarters of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
He will also meet with the senior most ranking PLA officer, General Fan Changlong, who is one of two vice chairmen of the Central Military Commission (CMC). The CMC is the top most military body, headed by President Xi Jinping and comprising 10 top PLA officials including the head of the General Staff, Air Force, Navy, Second Artillery Corps besides the heads of political, logistics and armament departments.
With General Singh’s term set to end at the end of the month, the visit has in some sense assumed less significance that expected for the first ever trip to China by an Indian Army Chief in almost a decade.
The Chinese side has, however, arranged a full schedule for General Singh, with meetings with the two PLA Generals as well as interactions with Vice President Li Yuanchao, who is also a member of the Politburo, and Executive Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui.
On Friday, General Singh will deliver a speech at the PLA’s National Defence University.
On the agenda for the visit is firming up plans for exchanges for the coming year, including for annual defence exercises set to be held in India later this year. The previous round of the counterterrorism exercises was held in China in November last year – the first such drills in five years.
Both sides are also in consultations over the Chinese Defence Minister, General Chang Wanquan, visiting India later this year.
Defence ties have warmed since last year, following a suspension in exchanges in 2010 sparked by China refusing to host the then head of the Northern Command citing its “sensitivities” on Jammu and Kashmir.
In April last year, the two sides were involved in a three week-long stand-off in Depsang, in eastern Ladakh, after PLA soldiers erected a tent in disputed territory claimed by both sides.
The Depsang incident led to renewed efforts to boost on-the-ground exchanges along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) and to deepen communication between the militaries, with the two countries signing a Border Defence Cooperation Agreement in October aimed at formalising patrolling rules, setting up hotlines and increasing points of contact along the LAC.
