An eight-member Indian military delegation arrived in Beijing on Sunday on a week-long goodwill visit to China, marking the resumption of defence ties between the two Asian giants that were frozen for a year.
The multi-command delegation is headed by Maj. Gen. Gurmeet Singh of the Northern Command.
During the tour, the delegation will visit Chinese military units and hold talks with their counterparts in Beijing, Xinjiang and Shanghai, official sources in Beijing said.
This is the first Indian military delegation to visit China in about an year as an earlier delegation to be headed by the then Northern Command chief Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal cancelled its tour last year after China declined to provide regular visa to him.
This prompted India to put off the military exchanges until China changed its policy of issuing visas on stapled paper to residents from Jammu and Kashmir, being followed from 2008 on the ground that it was a disputed territory.
The issue, however, was resolved after China started issuing regular visas to several Jammu and Kashmir residents including some journalists who covered Sanya in China this year to report on the BRICS summit.
The decision to resume military ties was announced after a bilateral meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.
Following the understanding, China agreed to receive a delegation headed by Maj. Gen. Singh, who is a senior official from the Northern Command.
Subsequently the two countries also agreed to resume the annual defence dialogue which is due to be taken place in New Delhi.
The dates for this dialogue were being worked, officials in Beijing said.
