India, China likely to allow military officers in each other’s academies

 
India and China may  soon allow exchange of military officers on either side to attend courses at specialised military training academies in each other’s country.
The two countries,have fought war in 1961 due to claims and counter-claims along the 3,488-km-long frontier running all along the Himalayan ridge line.,  Currently there is little military exchange between the two countries.
India India suspects China to support Pakistan by launching a simultaneous two-front war in the event of a conflagration between India & Pakistan. Such a move is expected to be closely  monitored by not only Islamabad but also in Japan, USA and even Russia.
The offer to exchange cadets and officers in academies of either country was made during the visit by a high-level Indian delegation led by Air Marshal PP Reddy, Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (CISC), to Beijing on March 20 by Admiral Sun Jianguo, Deputy Chief of General Staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), made the offer, sources said.
The Admiral was of the opinion was that the two militaries should maintain high-level exchanges, enhance mutual trust, manage and control differences and deepen pragmatic cooperation in fields such as education and training.

Allowing exchanges in military academies has been discussed for the first time at such a high level. It is believed that the exchanges are possible at all levels e.g.the National Defence College or the Army War College, or other academies like the Indian Military Academy, IAF Academy or the Naval Academy.
So far India has not displayed any aversion to the proposal.
Defence Secretary RK Mathur will be in China on April 8 for the annual defence dialogue (ADD) where the matter is expected to come up for discussion and decision-making.

Chinese defends docking of submarines at Colombo port

China  strongly defended the docking of its submarines at Colombo port "We had the consent of the Sri Lanka side in advance," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told reporters responding to Mangala Samaraweera's comments that the new government will not permit the docking of Chinese submarines.

Two submarines - one said to be nuclear powered - docked at the Colombo port last year during Mahinda Rajapaksa regime, a move that raised concerns in India.

Hua reiterated that Chinese submarines were on way to take part in the anti-piracy operations at the Gulf of Aden in Somalia through Sri Lanka and used the ports for re-supply.

"It is to my knowledge that policy of Sri Lanka side is to support the global anti-piracy campaign. It welcomes the docking of submarines from the friendly countries," it said. "These are normal and transparent activities. It also followed the international practices,"

After reports that one of the Chinese submarines docked at the Colombo port during the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last year, the new Sri Lankan government said it will not permit such dockings.

"I really do not know what circumstances led to some submarines coming to the port of Colombo on the very day the Japanese Prime Minister was visiting Sri Lanka," Samaraweera had said here last week, disclosing for the first time that the docking coincided with Abe's Colombo visit.

"But we will ensure that such incidents from whatever quarters does not happen during our tenure," said Samaraweera, who held extensive talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Hua, however, welcomed Samaraweera's comments terming China as an "all weather friend" and the friendship withstood the test of time.