Army had eight flag meetings with Pakistan, 34 with China

New Delhi: Indian Army has held eight flag meetings with Pakistani army and 34 with Chinese PLA this year to resolve local issues. Defence Minister AK Antony said flag meetings with Pakistani side have been effective in dealing with cases of ceasefire violations, construction activities, infiltration attempts and return of inadvertent crossers.[caption id=“attachment_1292365” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Defence Minister AK Antony. Image courtesy PIB[/caption] Those with Chinese side assist in maintaining peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control, he said in a written reply to Lok Sabha on Monday. Indian and Pakistani army commanders had held seven, nine and 17 flag meetings in 2012, 2011 and 2010 respectively while the numbers of such meetings between Indian and Chinese army commanders were 24, 34, 32 in these years, he said. “The established mechanisms of hotline messages, flag meetings as well as weekly talks between the Director Generals of Military Operations of India and Pakistan are used to ensure tranquillity on the LoC,” he said. In addition, a Working Mechanism on Consultation and Coordination (WMCC) on India-China Border Affairs has been put into place since 2012, Antony said, adding that four meetings of WMCC have been held so far. PTI