Chinese Defence Minister's India visit;

Chinese Defence Minister's India visit

Chang Wanquan

India and China will attempt to resolve differences in setting up of a hotline soon between the armies of the two countries, during Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe's upcoming visit here, official sources said. 

After the Wuhan summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in April, both sides revived the long-pending proposal to set up the hotline so as to avoid flare-ups between the two militaries along their disputed border. 

But, the initiative hit a roadblock over differences between the two sides on issues relating to protocol and technical aspect of the hotline. 

China's State Councilor and Defense Minister General Wei Fenghe is scheduled to visit India later this month. 

However, the Indian side feels the protocol must be maintained and equating the Indian Army headquarters to PLA's Western Theatre Command in Chengdu was not proper. 

Three commands of the Indian Army -- the Kolkata-based eastern command, the central command headquartered at Lucknow and the northern command, headquartered at Udhampur -- have been tasked to keep an eye on the nearly 3,500-km-long border with China. 

Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day stand-off in Doklam in Sikkim sector last year which was the most serious military confrontation between the two sides in decades. 

At the two-day Wuhan summit in April, Modi and Xi decided to issue "strategic guidance" to their militaries to strengthen communications and build trust. The move was seen as aimed at avoiding a Doklam-like standoff between the two militaries. 

An eight-member Chinese military delegation led by Lt Gen Liu Xiaowu, Deputy Commander of Western Theatre Command, visited India in June as a follow-up to the Wuhan summit between Modi and Xi.