India-China celebrate PLA Day at Bumla

Bumla, Oct 1 (UNI) In a historical move, Indian Army today crossed the border to visit this Chinese town of Tibet to mark 57th Chinese national day.

Indian soldiers were entertained by Chinese cultural troupes with songs and dances.

Following some consultation between the two side, 50 Indian troops, with their family members, travelled to the remote outpost on the Southwest China's Himalayan border with India's Arunachal Pradesh state.

The Indian delegation was led by Brigadier Sanjay Kulkarni while Chinese delegation was led by Sr Col Yang Yunfu. They had a closed door border meeting also.

The actual flag hoisting took place yesterday itself.

On his return, Brigadier Kulkarni told reporters, ''We want to be friends and even the Chinese side share a strong feeling.'' Speaking about the 1962 war, the delegation of 50 army men and their families, besides journalists, made their way from Arunachal Pradesh to the Chinese town of Bumla, for two hours of festivities. The border near Bumla is divided by heaps of stones.

The visit by the Indian delegation follow a similar gesture shown by the People's Liberation Army of China, who attended India's Independence Day celebrations on August 15 at the Bumla Pass Indian border post.

About 50 Chinese military officials and soldiers, along with their families, had travelled to the Bumla Pass, close to the Chinese outpost, for Indian Independence Day on August 15.

Brigadier Kulkarni said, ''This was a reciprocal gesture and a part of our confidence-building process along the Line of Actual Control. Neither Chinese nor Indian troops here are talking of hostilities any more.

''Our relations are improving and there is no question of a war,'' said Senior Colonel Yang as he supervised the celebrations at Nagdoh.

''China and India will be friends forever,'' Brigadier Kulkari said adding that ''since we started confidence-building exercises, tension have eased on what once was a very sensitive frontier.'' Violation of each other's territory, incursions by patrols have come down sharply. We have little to complain about each other these days, he said.

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