Post-Wuhan, India, China decide to set up military 'hotline': Report

A week after PM Modi met President Xi at Wuhan, India and Chinese military are reportedly setting up a "hotline" which was regarded as a major Confidence Building Measure(CBM) between the two sides, China's state-run Global Times reported.

"India and China are now looking to set up a hotline between the operations directorates of the two nations' central military headquarters, which was first proposed in The Border Defense Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) and agreed to by Modi during his visit to China in 2015," Global Times said.

Prime Minister Modi during his "informal summit" with President Xi had decided to issue "strategic guidance" to their forces in order to defuse tensions along the Line of Actual Control(LAC).

The proposed hotline has been in the works since 2013 but wasn't operationalised due to procedural delays and the ever-changing situation at the China border.  However, post-Wuhan summit, both countries seem to be "resetting" border relations.

"The informal summit in Wuhan is a good start to alleviating stress between the two countries, which is the basis for future communication and trust building," Zhao Gancheng, director of the Shanghai Institute for International Studies' Centre for Asia-Pacific Studies, told the Global Times.

India and Pakistan already have a hotline service with Director Generals of Military Operations (DGMO) in touch with each other.

"Military trust and military cooperation should be the direction that both sides make efforts to achieve, though it will take some time," Zhao told the daily.

Meanwhile, on International Labour Day, Indian and Chinese troops held a special border personnel meeting at the Chusul-Moldo meeting point in eastern Ladakh. Troops from both sides exchanged sweets at Wacha border post in Arunachal Pradesh which is being seen as major confidence-building move.

According to an official statement, the meeting was organised to "build trust between the two armies deployed at the border."