Article Posted on : - Dec 29, 2011

NEW DELHI (PTI): As part of confidence building measures (CBMs), a 29-member Chinese army delegation undertook a four-day visit of India which will reciprocate by sending an army team led by a Major General next month.

"A 29-member Chinese army delegation was on a four-day visit here as part of annual defence exchanges between the two countries," sources told PTI here on Wednesday.

The Chinese delegation held talks with their Indian counterparts here and then proceeded to Agra to see the functioning of the parachute units deployed there, they said, adding the team left for Beijing on Wednesday.

The two countries had decided to enhance defence exchanges as part of CBMs during their Annual Defence Dialogue (ADD) held earlier this month.

The Indian team under Maj Gen will visit military facilities in China from January 10-13 and interact with their Chinese counterparts, they said.

The decision to exchange these delegations was taken by the two countries before the ADD held on December 9.

India and China have exchanged three military delegations this year after India broke the ice by sending a delegation under a Major General in June.

During the talks, India also proposed to set up a Border Personnel Meeting (BPM) venue along Uttarakhand-Himachal Pradesh stretch of the Sino-Indian border as part of Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) between the two countries.

So far, the two sides hold meetings at regular intervals at three such facilities in Kibithu in Arunachal Pradesh, Nathu La in Sikkim and Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir.

The need for such a facility was felt as there is no such venue in the central sector of the 4,057-km long Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two countries.

The proposal is being considered by the Chinese.