Army Chief Gen Pande holds talks with Bhutanese commander

Army Chief Gen Manoj Pande on Tuesday held wide-ranging talks with Royal Bhutan Army's Chief Operations Officer Lt Gen Batoo Tshering on ways to expand bilateral military ties amid China enhancing infrastructure around Bhutanese territory in the Doklam plateau.

Officials said the talks focused on various key dimensions of India-Bhutan defence cooperation and the two commanders reviewed the evolving regional security scenario.

The visiting commander also called on Chief of Defence Staff Gen Anil Chauhan, Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, Defence Secretary Giridhar Aramane and other senior military officers.

''The visit will further enhance and strengthen the already existing friendship and cooperation between the Indian Armed Forces and the Royal Bhutan Army,'' the Army said in a brief statement.

Lt Gen Tshering's visit to New Delhi comes three months after Gen Pande travelled to Bhutan.

''They exchanged views on the current global situation and security perspectives in addition to discussing measures for enhancing defence cooperation between both armies,'' the Army said about the talks between Gen Pande and Lt Gen Batoo Tshering.

The Bhutanese commander laid a wreath at the National War Memorial in honour of the fallen heroes.

He was also accorded a guard of honour in the South Block lawns.

The Doklam plateau is considered an important area for India's strategic interests.

The Indian and Chinese armies were locked in a 73-day stand-off at the Doklam tri-junction in 2017 after China tried to extend a road in an area that Bhutan claimed belonged to it. India had strongly opposed the construction as it would have impacted its overall security interests.

The India-China face-off was resolved following several rounds of talks.

In October last year, Bhutan and China signed an agreement on a ''three-step roadmap'' to expedite negotiations to resolve their festering boundary dispute.

Bhutan shares an over 400-km-long border with China and the two countries have held over 24 rounds of boundary talks in a bid to resolve the dispute.