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| Defence Minister A.K. Antony |
Both countries are looking to the visit to push forward expanded
engagement between the two militaries and to strengthen the mechanisms
in place to minimise strains along the disputed border.
Mr. Antony's visit has been seen in Beijing as assuming particular
significance as it is the first by a Defence Minister from India in more
than seven years – the last was by Pranab Mukherjee in 2006 – and it
takes place in the wake of tensions along the border following a
three-week stand-off triggered by a Chinese incursion in Ladakh on April
15.
The Defence Minister will be accompanied by a high-level delegation that
includes Defence Secretary R. K. Mathur, Eastern Army Commander
Lieutenant-General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Southern Naval Command chief Vice
Admiral Satish Soni and other officials of the Defence Ministry and
armed forces.
Mr. Antony, who will arrive in Beijing on Thursday evening, will have
formal delegation-level talks with his counterpart, Minister of National
Defence and People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Chang Wanquan.
Defence Ministry spokesperson Sitanshu Kar said in New Delhi the two
ministers are expected to discuss a number of issues, including those
related to maintenance of peace and tranquillity on the border;
exchanges and interactions between the armed forces of both sides and
matters relating to regional and global security.
Both sides are also looking to take forward negotiations on a new Border
Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA), although officials said on-going
discussions may not be concluded during the visit. National Security
Adviser Shivshankar Menon, who was in Beijing last week for the 16th
round of talks on the boundary dispute, said while there was “a broad
measure of agreement” there was still “a little bit of work [to do] on
the text itself”, with the draft likely to figure in discussions during
Mr. Antony’s visit. The agreement aims to deepen and enhance
confidence-building measures and improve communication.
Mr. Antony’s main interlocutor during his three-day visit is a PLA
General who is familiar with the situation along the border. General
Chang Wanquan, who took over as Defence Minister in March following the
once-in-ten year leadership change, early on in his career served in the
northwestern Lanzhou Military Region, one of seven Chinese military
commands, whose jurisdiction includes the disputed Aksai Chin region on
the western section of the border. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he
worked in the Operations Department and subsequently in Combat Training
in the Lanzhou MR.
Besides delegation-level talks in Beijing, Mr. Antony is likely to visit
a PLA facility, most likely in Tianjin, a northeastern port city that
is around 110 km from Beijing.
Initially, a visit by Mr. Antony to Chengdu, the headquarters of the
Chengdu Military Region, which is in charge of much of Tibet and the
middle and eastern sections of the border with India, had been
suggested. When Pranab Mukherjee visited as Defence Minister in 2006, he
travelled to Lanzhou, the only other military region that has a direct
relationship with India.
One Chinese analyst expressed surprise that Mr. Antony would not visit
either of the two regions, suggesting it was a missed opportunity to
enhance strategic trust.
Analysts in both countries say the recent strains along the border,
triggered by the Chinese setting up a tent in Depsang in eastern Ladakh,
underscored the need for sustained high-level contact. That the
stand-off took three weeks to be defused also pointed to the need for
improved channels of communication.
“Sino-Indian relations can now be seen as pre and post Depsang when PLA
toops ‘intruded’ 19 km beyond the de facto Line of Actual Control.
Post-Depsang, Indian wariness about deeper Chinese strategic intent is
not misplaced,’’ veteran strategic and defence analyst, Commodore
(Retd.) C. Uday Bhaskar, told The Hindu.
He prioritised “strategic transparency”’ as the major objective of Mr.
Antony’s visit. “The perception that China seeks to maintain strategic
stability with India in the public domain, even while covertly
encouraging tactical provocation – either directly [as in the case of
Depsang], or through proxies – is an issue that has to be raised at the
political level,” he said, adding that issues like more joint exercises
and more military to military contacts would a hit a glass-ceiling if
the basic strategic trust between India and China was not in place.
His comments were echoed by Major General Luo Yuan of the PLA’s Academy
of Military Sciences. “Of course, we are not denying there are some
conflicts that exist between us, especially on the border issue,” he
told The Hindu last week. “But if we both have the will to be
peaceful, and to build [an effective] consultation mechanism, we can
ensure the border issue can be managed”, he said.
Source: http://to.ly/mf1K
