Army officer from J&K to lead delegation to China from June 24

After nearly a year-long freeze on defence exchanges between India and China, the first Indian military delegation led by a major-general, serving in Jammu and Kashmir, will lead a delegation to China from Monday.

Maj Gen Gurmeet Singh, the commander of the Delta Force, a part of the specialised anti-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles deployed in J&K, will lead an eight-member delegation to China from June 19-24, government sources said here today.

India had put bilateral defence exchanges with China on hold since July last year after Beijing refused a proper stamped visa to the then Northern Army Commander Lt-Gen BS Jaswal since he headed troops in Jammu and Kashmir.

The reason cited for this visa denial was that he heads the command which comprises the state of J&K, a disputed territory according to China.

Asked whether Singh has received a stamped visa, sources said the Maj Gen has received a "proper visa". India has refused to recognize stapled visas as valid travel documents.

The decision to resume defence cooperation with China was arrived at during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Beijing in April this year.