Chinese PLA delegation holds talks with army officials

A 15-member delegation of China's People's Liberation Army held wide-ranging talks with their Indian counterparts here and both sides agreed that peace and tranquility on the border was an important guarantor for expansion of ties.
The visit of the delegation from PLA's Western Theatre Command from February 21- 26 coincides with Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar's trip to Beijing for the strategic dialogue.
The PLA delegation, being led by Major General Zhao Jin Song, Vice Chief of Staff of Headquarter Western Theatre Command in Chengdu, met senior Indian Army officers dealing with border issues at the Army Headquarters yesterday and discussed a variety of issues.

"The two sides exchanged views on wide-ranging issues and agreed that peace and tranquility on the border is an important guarantor for development and continued growth of bilateral relations.
"The leaders of two delegations discussed the importance of having regular bilateral exchanges and additional Border Personnel Meeting points," the Defence Ministry said in a statement.
It said the visit is continuation of the enhanced engagement between the two armies which also saw Western Theatre Commander General Zhao Zongqi visit India in December.

The delegation will also visit Agra and Kolkata.
Sources said the issue of setting up a hotline between New Delhi and Beijing was also discussed in the meeting.

The Indian and Chinese armies had conducted a joint training exercise in Pune in November.
In Beijing, India and China today held their upgraded strategic dialogue in an effort to shore up bilateral ties hit by China's reluctance to support India's NSG bid as well as a UN ban on terror group JeM chief Masood Azhar.