China says no to J&K Army commander's visit, India hits back

New Delhi, Aug 27 (PTI) In a provocative act, China
has refused permission to Northern Commander Lt Gen B S Jaswal
to visit that country because he belongs to a "sensitive" area
of Jammu and Kashmir.
Reacting strongly to this, India has put on hold
visits by Chinese military officials till the matter is
resolved.
The visit by a General-rank officer to China as part
of defence exchanges was agreed upon between the two countries
in January during the annual defence dialogue, sources said
here on Friday.
The visit was fixed for July but it was not decided at
that time as to who will be send by India, the sources said.
When India conveyed its decision to send Lt Gen
Jaswal, China wrote back saying that he came from a "sensitive
location of Jammu and Kashmir" and that "people from this part
of the world come with a different kind of visa", sources
said.
The Chinese side suggested that India may send some
other officer and not cancel the visit.
Sources said the Chinese objection came close to the
visit and so the matter could not be resolved and the trip
could not take place.
Commenting on this, External Affairs Ministry of
India, spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said the visit did not take
place "due to certain reasons" but did not elaborate.
He, however, made it clear that China needed to be
sensitive to India's concerns.
"While we value our exchanges with China, there must
be sensitivity to each others concerns. Our dialogue with
China on these issues is ongoing," he said.
Upset over Beijing's action, New Delhi has kept in
abeyance permission to two Chinese defence officials to come
to India for undertaking a course at the National Defence
College.
A pending visit by Indian military officials to China
has also been put off by India.
Toeing the Pakistani line, China in the recent past
has been refusing to issue visas to people from Jammu and
Kashmir on their passports as it treats the state as
"disputed". Instead, it issues visas on loose sheets of paper,
which is not accepted by Indian immigration officials. PTI AJD
AHM