India, China end military drills with anti-terror exercises

Beijing: The fifth round of India-China joint military exercises wound up today in the Chinese city of Kunming with the two countries holding a unique mock exercise depicting counter-terror operations at the Sino-Indian border.

"A joint field exercise depicting counter-terrorist operations on India-China border areas was held from 21 to 22 October to validate the exercise objectives," a statement by Indian Defence Ministry here said.

"A series of challenging tactical situations were presented to validate the reactions of the sub-units and a very high-level of professionalism and coordination was seen among troops of both the armies," it said.

A video footage of the drill released by the ministry showed both sides in a combined operation raiding and seizing a terrorist camp.

An exercise featuring troops from both sides at the border was regarded significant considering recent tensions between the two militaries in the Ladakh region, where Indian troops objected to attempts by their Chinese counterparts to claim areas on the Indian side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Such issues were discussed at the periodic meetings of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) including the one held here in the second week of this month.

Referring to the Kunming exercises, the press release said that the joint exercise has "met its stated objectives; to exchange experience on counter-terrorist training and conducting counter-terrorist operations, enhance mutual trust and understanding and promote healthy military relations between the two armies."

Officials say the significant feature of this exercise is that both sides designed special drills, pooling up their anti-terrorism experiences.

While India has been confronting infiltration by militants in Kashmir, China is battling terrorists from East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) in Xinjiang for the past few years.

India and China have pressed in different contingents each time so that personnel from various commands are exposed to each other.