NEW DELHI – India and China revived the long-pending proposal to set up thehotline so as to avoid flare-ups between the two militaries along theirdisputed border.
India and China will attempt to resolve differences in setting up of ahotline soon between the Armies of the two countries, during ChineseDefence Minister Wei Fenghe’s upcoming visit in New Delhi, official sourcessaid.
After the Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ChinesePresident Xi Jinping in April, both sides revived the long-pending proposalto set up the hotline so as to avoid flare-ups between the two militariesalong their disputed border.
But, the initiative hit a roadblock over differences between the two sideson issues relating to protocol and technical aspect of the hotline.
China’s State Councillor and Defence Minister General Wei Fenghe isscheduled to visit India later this month.
While the Indian Army has been maintaining that the hotline should bebetween its Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) and hisequivalent official in Peoples Liberation Army (PLA), Beijing proposed thatDeputy Commander of its Chengdu-based Western Theatre Command would engagewith the Indian DGMO, the sources said.
It is learnt that Chinese PLA has also conveyed to Indian Army that they donot have any DGMO in its headquarters and that it was favouring engagingthe Western Theatre Command which looks after the Sino-Indian border.
However, the Indian side feels the protocol must be maintained and equatingthe Indian Army headquarters to PLA’s Western Theatre Command in Chengduwas not proper.
Three commands of the Indian Army — the Kolkata-based eastern command, thecentral command headquartered at Lucknow and the northern command,headquartered at Udhampur — have been tasked to keep an eye on the nearly3,500 km-long border with China.