While China had in the past objected strongly to India including Japan in its annual naval Exercise Malabar with the USA, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said on Monday in response to questions about the India-US-Japan drills, “We are not that fragile”. A contingent of one hundred seventy five troops from 2nd Battalion of Naga Regiment from Eastern Command reached Kunming by IAF IL-seventy six plane yesterday to participate within the exercise.
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In the second phase, troops will be trained in combat, anti-terrorism tactics, humanitarian aid and disaster-relief communication and the two sides will also conduct joint manoeuvres.
It would also expand the scope of military interaction, facilitate exchange of best practices in counter terrorism operations, enhance mutual understanding and trust and further promote friendly relationship between both militaries.
Terming the past standoffs at the India-China border as “accidental confrontations”, an article in a state-run Chinese daily today blamed the western media for unfairly targeting their joint military exercise by focussing on the border tensions. “Commanders and Staff Officers of both sides will work in close coordination to receive and collate intelligence and to issue suitable operational orders to the combined field training components, who in turn will execute these orders on ground, ” the Business Standard notes.
Both sides are fielding the same number of troops for the joint exercises, which will culminate on October 22, a press release from the Indian Embassy here said today.
Tokyo has been involved in the drills intermittently in recent years when they have been held in the Pacific, but the three governments have now agreed to formalize it, Indian defense sources said. Moreover, the growing presence of Chinese nuclear submarines and conventional submarines in the Indian Ocean is intensifying New Delhi’s anxiety. “Leaders from both China and India have consensus and enough means to take divergences under control”, Wang added.
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India has kept away from the tensions in the South China Sea but has stood with the U.S.in calling for freedom of navigation in the region. Thus, India continues to perform a careful balancing act between China and the United States and its allies.
