Northern Army Commander Lt. Gen. Ranbir Singh visited China’s Western Theatre Command (WTC), which manages security along the border with India, Army sources said here on Wednesday.
The visit was earlier deferred following the Centre’s move to do away with the special status of Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370 in August last year. Lt. Gen. Singh’s visit is only the second such by a Northern Army Commander, the last one in 2015. He held a meeting with General Zhao Zongqi, Commander of WTC, and is also slated to visit military establishments and units in Urumqi and Shanghai. “These meetings will help understand the sensitivities on the ground and the concerns of each other that often result in misunderstandings along borders,” a Defence source stated.
In a statement, the Army said Lt. Gen. Singh was leading a military delegation that would hold talks with top Generals of the People’s Liberation Army, as well as “visit vital military and civil establishments in Beijing, Chengdu, Urumqi and Shanghai to exchange views on measures for furthering peace and tranquility”. The visit comes close on the heels of the bilateral military exercise ‘Hand-in Hand 2019’ held in December in Meghalaya. “There has been a marked increase in mutual coordination between the armies of both the countries,” it observed.
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