China, Pakistan to hold joint air exercise

Beijing: The Chinese and Pakistani air forces will hold a joint exercise next week in a region bordering Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The joint drill will be held during September 2-22 in China`s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Chinese Defence Ministry said on Thursday. The exercise, code-named Shaheen (Eagle)-2, is another cooperative project between the two air forces after the Shaheen-1 drill in Pakistan in March 2011, Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun told a briefing for the local media. The drill between the two close allies is being held ahead of an India-China military exercise planned for November. That exercise, codenamed Hand-in-Hand, is scheduled to be held in China`s Chengdu?Military Command area from November 4 to 14. India and China are expected to field about 150 troops each for the exercise, which is likely to focus on anti-terrorism manoeuvres. PTI