Put behind ‘unfortunate’ 1962 war, China to India

New Delhi: China wants India to put behind the 1962 war as an "unfortunate" thing of the past and that the two countries should strengthen their military ties including formalising a border management pact under which their troops will not fire at each other. The Chinese assessment was conveyed to the Indian Defence ministry team which visited Beijing on January 14 and 15 for the third round of the Annual Defence Dialogue between the two countries.

During the meeting with the Indian team led by Defence Secretary Shashikant Sharma, the Chinese side asked India to forget the 1962 war as an "unfortunate" thing of the past and said it looked forward towards better relations between the two countries, highly-placed defence sources said here today. India suffered a humiliating defeat in the 1962 war. The Chinese side was "unusually warm" during the third round of talks and wanted a formal border management agreement along the more than 4,000-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC). The Chinese side, the sources said, is expected to soon send proposals in this regard which would also suggest the two sides to agree on their troops not firing at each other under any circumstances. Beijing also wants to formalise a mechanism under which there will be no night patrolling by the troops from both sides and if they cross each others` path, they will not follow each other, sources said. However, Beijing continued to be in denial mode when the Indian side raised the issue of presence of Chinese troops in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir(PoK). India maintains that Chinese troops are found to be in significant numbers in PoK around the Chinese construction projects in that region. The Chinese side did not raise any "negative" issue like they have done in the past when they questioned the statements by Services chiefs on China and the media coverage, they said. The Indian delegation also met the Vice Chairman of the Central Military Commission, who is even above the Chinese Defence Minister. PTI