China and India set to resume military drills

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China and India set to resume military drills

By Pu Zhendong (China Daily) 09:11, August 27, 2013

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Soldiers from China and India take part in the "Hand in Hand" joint military drill in 2007, in Kunming, Yunnan province. The drill was the first joint anti-terrorism exercise for the two armies since 1962, when the two Asian neighbors had a brief border conflict. The two countries held another "Hand in Hand" drill a year later. (Xinhua/Li Gang)

Beijing and New Delhi are expected to resume their joint counterterrorism exercises in November after five years, despite the frequent occurrence of standoffs along border areas.

Seen as a major confidence-building measure between the world's two largest militaries, the third Hand-in-Hand exercise will be held in the Chengdu Military Command area from Nov 4 to 14, the Chinese Defense Ministry confirmed on Monday.

According to media reports, the agreement was reached during a visit of Indian Defense Minister A.K. Antony in July. Each side will dispatch task forces of 100 to 150 members to participate in counterinsurgency and counterterrorism campaigns.

"It will be a company-level counterterrorism exercise, with the Sikh Light Infantry participating from our side," an Indian official was quoted by local media as saying.

Two previous joint exercises of this kind have been held: "Hand in Hand 2007", in Kunming, Yunnan province; and "Hand in Hand 2008", in Belgaum, Karnataka, India.

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