“The India-China joint exercise is being done in the background of counter-terrorism operations within the United Nations”.
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When people think about a military drill conducted by the two emerging powers in the world today – China and India – a tribal dance at the opening event might not be the image that comes to mind.
The 12-day exercise will lay emphasis on joint handling of insurgency at sub-unit level and related issues, while the aspect of Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief will be discussed at formation headquarters level, it continued.
It said this will be the fifth exercise in the Hand-in-Hand series, which started in 2007. For instance: “our Indian partner arrived late in the evening and went straight into the training program with the Chinese troops”, LT. General Zhou Xiaozhou with Chengdu military region said. “There is no need to be astonished over the joint drill, for the idea of peaceful coexistence has already been deeply rooted among people from both China and India”.
As India and China on Monday kicked-off their annual anti-terrorism joint military exercises, Beijing said it wasn’t bothered by India hosting naval exercises this week with the United States and Japan in the Bay of Bengal. As a new measure of establishing mutual trust, there is no point in making a fuss over the drill.
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. Leaders from China and India have consensus and enough reasons to keep the divergences under control.
“Moreover, the growing presence of Chinese nuclear submarines and conventional submarines in the Indian Ocean is intensifying New Delhi’s anxiety”, it said. He accuses Western commentators to misread these disagreements and that, in fact, relations between Beijing and New Delhi are quite good.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying reacted sharply when asked about the exercise on Monday: “You mentioned India is having naval exercises with US and Japan and you ask whether China is concerned”.
Japan participated in the Malabar exercise hosted by India in 2007, but after a strong reaction from China against the inclusion of Japan and Australia, the exercises became largely bilateral thereafter, although Japan did participate in 2014.
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Yet, Indian officials, pointed out that New Delhi is pursuing a “multi-vectored diplomacy where IOUs are being parceled to countries on either side of the political aisle”.
