India, China discuss boundary issues

New Delhi, Feb 24:

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on Monday discussed boundary issues and implementation of a recently-concluded border pact during the sixth round of the Annual Defence Dialogue between the two sides.

At the talks held in South Block here, the Chinese side was headed by Deputy Chief of People's Liberation Army (PLA) Wang Guanzhong while Defence Secretary R K Mathur led the Indian delegation.

The Chinese team also met Defence Minister A K Antony after the talks, Defence Ministry officials said. During the sixth round of Defence Secretary-level talks , the two countries are understood to have reviewed the implementation of the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) signed in October last year.

The issue of border transgressions by the Chinese troops is also learnt to have come up for discussion at the meeting.

Incursions by the Chinese troops have taken place along the Line of Actual Control even after the two sides reached BDCA. India has been saying that though the pact does not guarantee an end to these incursions, it has helped in resolving the border incidents at a faster pace.

The proposal for setting up a hotline between the DGMO- levels officials is also understood to have been discussed at the meeting.

The two sides had in November held their third round of joint exercises in Kunming after a gap of nearly five years. At the time of the signing of BDCA, the two sides had agreed to have more exchanges between their training institutions.

India and China are also exploring the possibility of having joint exercises between the air forces and the navies. The two countries had put on hold their joint exercises after the Chinese side denied visa to the then Northern Army Commander Lt Gen BS Jaswal in 2010.

PTI