New Delhi: Chinese defence minister and state councillor Wei Fenghe will arrive here on Tuesday on a four-day visit during which the two sides are expected to explore specific measures to build trust between their armies and maintain peace and tranquillity on the border.
Sources were cited by news agencies as saying that the primary objective of Mr Wei’s visit is to deliberate with the Indian defence establishment on implementation of decisions taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping at their informal summit in Wuhan in April this year.
At that informal summit, Mr Modi and Mr Xi had resolved to open a new chapter in ties and directed their militaries to boost coordination along the border. A serious military faceoff in decades last year between the two Asian giants and nuclear-armed neighbours in Doklam in Bhutanese territory had triggered military tensions between the two countries.
Sources said both sides will discuss the implementation of decisions taken during the Wuhan summit aimed at improving mutual trust and avoiding a repeat of any Doklam-like faceoffs. Mr Wei, who is a key member in China’s State Council, the executive organ of China’s central government, is due to meet Prime Minister Modi and hold restricted as well as delegation-level talks with his Indian counterpart Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday.
The Chinese defence minister is also likely to visit an Indian military establishment during his trip. According to news agency reports, during the coming delegation-level talks, both sides are expected to deliberate on the situation along the Doklam plateau, and the Indian side may also raise the presence of a sizeable number of Chinese troops in North Doklam.
