India, China set to kick off jt military exercise

Indian and Chinese troops are set to kick off their five-day first-ever joint military exercise with the spotlight on anti-terrorism drill near Kunming in southwest China on Friday. The military exercise is a sign of thawing relations between the two countries with the world's two largest armies.

Ahead of the joint manoeuvres in a hilly terrain, Indian ground forces were on a familiarisation mode conducting rehearsals today at the Kunming Military Academy.

The exercise will involve setting up of a joint command post, joint battle decision making and conduct of anti-terrorism drills, officials said. The exercise is called 'Hand-in-hand 2007' involving 103 men from the Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry and almost an equivalent number from the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

The Chinese side has preferred to call the exercise a joint training. The military ties between India and China were growing step by step and the manoeuvres would send a signal to the international community about their joint effort to attack terrorism, Wu Xiao Yi, deputy director general, Asian affairs bureau, foreign affairs office, Ministry of Defence, told reporters.

Wu, who spoke of the warmer relations between the Asian neighbours and the developing military ties, said the Indian and Chinese troops on the border have been enjoying good relations, attending ceremonies and festivals and having other friendly exchanges.

Wu also referred to recent reports in a section of the Indian media that Chinese troops had destroyed Indian bunkers on the tri-junction between India, Bhutan and China, saying they were "not correct and not according to facts".

Union Defence Minister A K Antony had clarified there was no such action by the Chinese, Wu said. Painting a negative picture would hurt the Indian and Chinese sides and do great harm, not only to those devoted to promotion of friendship between the two countries, but also to the people of both countries.

"We are here for friendship," he said, adding that the training will help build mutual trust between the two armies. He said he foresees more such military exchanges with different contents. The exercise is in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding on Exchange and Cooperation in the field of defence both India and China signed in 2006. Earlier this year, two ships of the Indian Navy made a port call at Qingdao and conducted a joint exercise with the PLA Navy, which was followed by the first-ever Annual Defence Dialogue in Beijing in November this year.

Significantly, anti-terrorism drill has been chosen for the joint operations in which the Chinese side is expected to draw upon the experience of Indian troops. Hitherto, the military cooperation between the two countries included attending training courses at each other's military facilities, high-level visits of military establishments and allowing observers at military exercises and the joint exercise would take it to a new high.

The Indian troops arrived in China from Guwahati on Wednesday. The Sino-Indian joint military exercise comes close on the heels of India hosting multi-naval exercises involving 29 warships and 160 fighters from the US, Australia, Japan and Singapore, over which China had expressed its concern.

China has said that the exercise was not aimed at any third party and was aimed at building mutual trust between the two militaries.