India-China to resume annual defence dialogue early next year

After a pause because of the visa row, India will resume the annual defence dialogue with China in January next year to discuss several key issues including resumption of hand-in-hand bilateral army exercise between the two nations.

China had suggested a date in the month of November this year but both the sides mutually agreed to hold the dialogues in January 2012, sources in Defence Ministry said in Delhi today.

The last round of Indo-China dialogues had taken place in Beijing in January 2010.

Various issues such as the situation along the Indo-China border and resumption of hand-in-hand exercise between the armies of the two sides will be discussed during the meeting, they said.

New Delhi had suspended military exchanges with China in August 2010 after it refused to grant permission to a senior Indian Army Commander to proceed on an official trip to Beijing.

As an immediate fallout of the event, India refused to hold the third round of hand-in-hand exercise with China and had put all other military exchanges on hold.

The first two editions of the army to army exercise had taken place in Kunming in China in 2007 and in Belgaum in 2008.

Putting an end to the strained military relations, India had sent its first military delegation to Beijing in June this year.

Meanwhile, India and China will also hold the special envoy level talks on the issue of border management in Delhi, before the end of this year. National Security Advisor (NSA) Shivsankar Menon will be leading the Indian delegation during these talks.