India, China will soon have a hotline: Army Chief
A hotline will be set up between the Indian and Chinese armies very soon, Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said today.
"It is moving very fast. Very soon we will have a hotline with the Chinese side," the Army Chief said at a press conference.
He said both India and China were very keen on having a hotline between the Indian Army's Director General of Military Operations (DGMO) and the Chinese officer holding similar position.
The Army Chief said a hotline will help resolve incidents such as transgressions along the border promptly.
"We are very keen to start the hotline. The Chinese are also very clear," he said.
Currently, India and Pakistan have a hotline between their DGMOs.
Replying to a question on procurement of Spike anti-tank missile from Israel through government-to-government route, the Army Chief said such a proposal was being considered.
In November, the defence ministry had decided to retract the process to acquire a batch of Spike missiles from Israeli firm Rafael Advanced Defence Systems.
Subsequently, the ministry had asked premier defence research laboratory DRDO to develop similar missiles with indigenous technology.
Gen. Rawat said the government was considering procuring the missile system from Israel using the government-to- government route. PTI
