Chinese military said it is working to advance its ties with
the defence forces of India, even as it intends to strengthen its
already "multi-dimensional" relationship with the Pakistani military.In a
41-page "white paper" outlining the policies and perceptions of world's
largest standing military of 2.3 million personnel, the People's
Liberation Army (PLA) said it intends to work at building trust with its
neighbouring countries."China has strengthened military relations with
its neighbouring countries," said the PLA policy paper."It conducts
friendly exchanges with the DPRK (North Korea) and the ROK (South Korea)
militaries, attaches importance to Sino-Japanese defence exchanges,
strengthens multi-dimensional Sino-Pakistani military exchanges and
cooperation, works to advance the Sino-Indian military relationship,"
the paper released to the media by its top military brass said.While PLA
shares very close strategic links with its all-weather ally Pakistan,
it has also in the recent past tried to enhance ties with the Indian
military as part of wider attempts to improve overall relations between
the two countries.The process suffered a reverse last year after India,
in response to the denial of visa by China to its top General B S Jaswal
on the ground that he headed troops in Jammu and Kashmir, which it
regards as disputed territory.
He was to come to Beijing to attend a
bilateral meeting.Following this, India called off its defence exchanges
with PLA, even though Chinese Defence Ministry continues to maintain
that its military ties with India were intact.The issue was expected to
figure in next month's meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and
Chinese President Hu Jintao on the sidelines of Brazil, Russia, India,
China, South Africa (BRICS) at the Chinese island of Sanya.China had
also promised to review its policy to issue stapled visas to residents
of J and K.Besides this, the paper, which is issued every year said
China faced an increasingly "volatile" Asian region, in the backdrop of
attempts by US to expand its footprints."Profound changes are taking
shape in the Asia-Pacific strategic landscape. Relevant major powers are
increasing their strategic investment... The United States is
reinforcing its regional military alliances and increasing its
involvement in regional security affairs. Suspicion about China,
interference and countering moves against China from the outside are on
the increase," it said.It reiterated that China's national defence
policy is "defensive" in nature and said the pursuit of such a national
defence policy is determined by China's development path.
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