Chinese Defence Minister to visit India later this year
New Delhi, July 5: Chinese Defence Minister Wei Fenghe will visit India later this year as part of high-level military exchanges between the two countries in the spirit of Wuhan summit, it was announced on Thursday.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar told reporters here that there was evident improvement in the relationship between the two countries in view of the strategic guidance given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping following their informal Wuhan summit in April this year.
He was answering a query about the ongoing visit of a high-level Chinese army delegation to India following the Wuhan summit. It was first such visit after Doklam stand-off last year.
"The delegation visit was part of high-level ongoing military exchange and we do look forward to and encourage such exchanges including the visit by the Defence Minister of China to India later this year," he said.
The 10-member team of the People's Liberation Army, led by its senior commander Lt. General Liu Xiaowu, the Deputy Chief of its Western Theatre Command, is in India on a five-day visit till July 6.
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Karnataka Health Minister Rao hopeful of resolving issues raised by docs, health staff
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao on Tuesday expressed hope to find a solution to the issues raised by KGMOA and other health department employees' associations as they have called for a statewide strike.
As part of the phased statewide agitation by Karnataka Government Medical Officers’ Association (KGMOA), all Outpatient Department (OPD) services will be affected from March 11.
From March 16, doctors plan a complete boycott of duties, including emergency services, if the government fails to act.
"We have discussed with doctors and healthcare workers. We have spoken to them twice. Yesterday, we communicated the government's actions to them through our commissioner," Rao said in the Legislative Assembly.
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He said, "Their demands include issues pending for several years, such as Cadre and Recruitment Rules, the seniority list, and discrepancies in the last counselling, among others."
"We plan to resolve them. There are several other issues, I don't want to discuss now. We have called them for a meeting with the chief minister today. We will discuss and resolve what we can in the interest of the department and most importantly the public. I'm confident that the issue will be resolved soon," he added.
The minister was replying to a question raised by three MLAs, including BJP's Sunil Kumar during the question hour.
"With various demands, doctors across the state have called for an indefinite strike starting tomorrow. Supply of medicines, transfer policy and filling vacancies are the major issues they have raised," he said.
Noting that the doctors and healthcare staff have threatened to stop OPD operations from March 11 and emergency services from March 16, he said, "This is worrying. The heads of the doctors' and healthcare staff associations told the media that although they brought their issues to the government's attention a month ago, they have not been called for discussion to resolve the issue."
He further urged that the government should not take any drastic measures, like imposing Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA), to curtail the strike. "The government should adopt negotiation instead of conflict. They should call them and resolve the issue immediately."
Congress MLA and chief whip Ashok Pattan said the strike by doctors and healthcare staff will affect the poor.
"The government should call the representatives of doctors and healthcare staff for a meeting and resolve their issues that can be solved immediately. They should also convince them that other issues would be addressed in stages," he said.
Another Congress MLA, Hampanagouda Badarli, also made a similar demand.
