Sunday, November 21, 2010

India-China Relations Hit By Defence Row

India-China Relations Hit By Defence RowIndia has cancelled defence exchanges with China in a new flare-up in relations between the two Asian giants, reports said on Friday. The Times of India said the move by New Delhi was retaliation after Beijing refused a visa to a leading Indian general who oversees operations in Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK).


B.S. Jaswal, an Indian lieutenant general responsible for the volatile and disputed area of Jammu and Kashmir, intended to travel to China in August for a high-level defence exchange between the countries.





Beijing responded by saying he was not welcome because he controlled a disputed area, which China claims in part, the Times of India said in a front-page story.


"An angry New Delhi shot off a strongly-worded demarche to Beijing, protesting its decision," the newspaper said, without quoting sources.


"Soon thereafter, Delhi refused permission to two Chinese defence officials to come to India. A subsequent visit by Indian military officials to China was also cancelled by India," it said.


An Indian news channel, quoting unnamed foreign ministry sources, also reported the cancellations and escalation in tensions.


China-India ties are wracked by suspicion and mistrust, largely due to unresolved border disputes in India's northwest and northeast, a short war in 1962 and the presence of Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in India.

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