Beijing: China and Pakistan are to hold joint
military exercises on the outskirts of Islamabad with Beijing
claiming that the war games were not aimed at putting pressure
on India.
The annual `Friendship 2011` joint military exercises are
billed as anti-terror maneuvers aimed at handling non
traditional security threats, a Chinese Defence Ministry
statement published in state-run China Daily said today.
However, the statement did not specify the dates of the
war games which are the first joint drill by the two armies
this year.
"This is the first joint drill of the two armies this
year and is not targeted at any third nation. It is aimed at
enhancing the capability of the two militaries to handle
non-traditional security threats and launch joint anti-terror
activities," the statement said while referring to Indian
media reports that the exercises were aimed at putting
pressure on New Delhi.
China-Pakistan held such an exercise in China`s Ningxia
province last year where the two sides focused honing skills
to counter terror threats.
China has deployed large number of its anti-terror squads
in Xinjiang, bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK).
Tensions prevailed in Xinjiang for the past few years
following Uyghur Muslims resentment over increasing
settlements of mainland Han Chinese.
A Chinese security analyst Fu Xiaoqiang said the Indian
media report is groundless.
"They always wear blinkers to examine China`s cooperation
with Pakistan. For example, we all know there are many Chinese
experts and engineers in Pakistan working on large projects.
It is the Indian media who linked that with security issues,"
he said.
PTI
