Notwithstanding the face-off in Burtse, ladakh last week, India and China will go ahead with joint military exercise ‘Hand in Hand’ next month in the Chinese city of Kunming. The exercise will take place from October 11 to 23 in which a 100-strong team of Naga Regiment will represent the Indian Army.
This the fifth annual exercise between the two countries focusing on combating terrorism and insurgency. The first edition of ‘Hand in Hand’ was held in December 2007 in Kunming followed by the second edition in Belgaum next year.
However, there was a gap of five years after 2008 as India protested against China refusing to issue visa to a senior Army General as he was then heading the Northern Command. China had questioned the status of Jammu and Kashmir thereby forcing India not to take part in the exercise.
The exercise resumed in 2013 with China hosting it in Chengdu followed by the fourth edition in Pune last year.
The two countries had started the joint exercise as a confidence building measure despite the 50-year-old boundary dispute. The two Armies operated jointly during the exercises honing techniques in fighting terrorism in urban and rural environment besides promoting healthy military-to- military ties between the two countries, officials said here on Thursday.
The forthcoming exercise comes soon after the two Armies operationalised their fifth border personnel meeting (BPM) point at Daulat Beg Oldi last month, which adds to the existing ones at Chushul (ladakh), Nathu la (Sikkim), Bum la and Kibithu (Arunachal). After a fresh face-off this month, the Armies of India and China held two meetings at two different sites in ladakh this week during which they agreed to maintain peace and tranquility along the 465-km line of Actual Control (lAC) in the ladakh sector.
The stand-off took place after the Indian forces destroyed a watch tower built by the Chinese at least two kms inside India. The Chinese had fitted surveillance camera on the tower to keep track of movement of Indian troops and it was seized. During the meetings, the Indian side raised objection about the tower and camera and both the Armies agreed to adhere to no defence construction along lAC.