India, China To Open Military Dialogue

Officials from India and China, which last year put off discussions of military relations, will meet here Dec. 8 to begin a military dialogue, an Indian Defence Ministry official said.

The deputy chief of China's People's Liberation Army is representing China at the talks, sources said.

The officials will discuss the resumption of joint military exercises. The two countries' armies have held joint land exercises twice - in China in 2007 and in India in 2008.

China and India were scheduled to hold border talks Nov. 28-29, but they were put off by Beijing, which objected to the Tibetan Dalai Lama attending an international Buddhist conference here.

There needs to be a greater understanding between the armies of the two countries through more exchanges, the Indian Defence Ministry official said.

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