Beijing: China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) said Thursday that their ties with the Indian military are ‘improving’ with the strategic dialogue, practical cooperation and exchanges, ‘thanks’ to the efforts of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping.
Providing an upbeat picture of the relations between the two militaries, which shared arduous and at times testing ties guarding the 3,488-km long Line of Actual Control (LAC), Defence spokesman Colonel Wu Qian said the just concluded joint counter terrorism drills in India ‘showed the determination’ of the two sides to protect the regional stability besides fighting terrorism.
“For China-India, military relationship is the important component of the overall relationship,” Colonel Wu told a media briefing here responding to questions on how the PLA views the relations with their Indian counterparts this year.
“Thanks to the efforts of the two heads of the state, the military relationship is improving and two countries maintain strategic dialogues and conduct practical cooperation, and also strengthen their exchanges along their borders,” he added.
The military ties constituted important component of the two informal summits – Wuhan in 2018 and Chennai this year – between Prime Minister Modi and President Xi especially after the 73-day standoff at Doklam in 2017.
“We should carefully handle issues concerning each other’s core interests. We should properly manage and control problems that cannot be solved for the time being,” Xi had said after his summit meeting with Modi in Chennai.
Wu said the PLA looks to further develop their ties with the Indian military in 2020.
“The year 2020 marks the 70th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between China and India, and the two militaries have plans to conduct various exchanges and celebration activities,” informed Wu.
“We are willing to work together with the Indian side to follow the guidance of our heads of state and promote the military-to-military relationship continue to develop along the right track and make more contributions to the growth of the bilateral relations,” added Wu.
PTI