Coming up after Modi-Jinping meeting: India-China military hotline to improve mutual trust

During the informal meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in Wuhan in China recently, the two countries stressed on reduction of border tension and said they would issue strategic guidance to their respective armies to improve communication so that mutual understanding was optimised through mutually agreed upon confidence-building measures and reason for suspicion and tension was curbed.

On lines of the agreement which many deemed crucial after the intense standoff between the armies of the two countries over Doklam last year, the militaries of India and China have reportedly arrived at a consensus to set up a hotline between their respective headquarters, China's state-run Global Times said on Tuesday, May 1.

In its report 'Patience and sincerity crucial to rebuilding Sino-India ties, as militaries set up a hotline: analyst', the Global Times said: "Leaders of the two nations have reportedly agreed to set up a hotline between their respective military headquarters".

The setting up of the hotline would help both sides to have a better communication and coordination and avert standoffs along the 4,000-km-plus long Line of Actual Control that have often hurt the prospects of cooperation between two of the world's most promising economies. In mid-2017, Indian and Chinese troops locked horns in Doklam Plateau over the construction of a road by the Chinese Army in the disputed area. It was the next most intense moment in military confrontation in the relation between the two countries since the 1962 war.

The idea to set up a hotline between the two countries' armed forces was long due but was not implemented because of procedural concerns.

The Global Times cited experts saying trust between the militaries of India and China is crucial for their bilateral relations to bloom and required patience and sincerity from both parties.