India conveys concern to China over presence in PoK

India today conveyed its concern to China over its "activity and presence" in Gilgit-Baltistan Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir region in the backdrop of reports that up to 11,000 Chinese troops had moved in there.Just back from New Delhi where he briefed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and other members of the special session of the cabinet committee on security on China, Indian ambassador to China S Jaishankar met Chinese vice minister for foreign affairs Zhang Zhijun to convey anger and concerns in India.During their 90-minute meeting, the Chinese minister told the ambassador that Chinese personnel were present in PoK to render "humanitarian assistance" to the flood-affected people in the region, sources in the Indian embassy said in Beijing.Indian embassy officials in Beijing said that the concerns conveyed by India included "activities and presence" of Chinese in Gilgit-Baltistan area of the POK as well as the New York Times report which stated that about 7000 to 11000 troops were present there to take firm grip of the region for several Chinese projects, including laying of roads and pipelines.The two also discussed a number of other issues concerning improvement of bilateral ties, the sources said but declined to elaborate.Following the New York Times' report of People's Liberation Army (PLA) presence in PoK, India had said it was independently verifying the matter which it dubbed as "serious, if true"."If true, it would be a matter of serious concern and we would do all that is necessary to ensure safety and security of the nation," external affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash had said on Monday when asked to comment on the reports.Without going into issues, the Indian officials termed today's talks as candid, which are seen as a precursor to a much broader dialogue in the coming days as "useful".The Indian envoy also reportedly conveyed outrage and anger caused by Chinese action of denying visa to Lt. Gen. B S Jaswal, chief of the Indian army's northern command on the ground that he headed the forces of Jammu and Kashmir, which Beijing considers a disputed territory.India has already put on hold defence exchanges with China. But Beijing said it has not yet received any official communication from India and its defence ties with New Delhi are intact.Also, the ambiguity surrounding China's stand on the Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir also reportedly came up for discussion.