India, China armies to begin anti-terror drills

BEIJINGL: The fifth round of joint India-China anti-terrorism military exercises will commence in the Chinese city of Kunming tomorrow.

The 10-day drills will focus on various aspects of anti-terrorism operations and the two sides will share mutual experiences.

In last year's exercises held at Pune the drills focussed on practices learnt while tackling insurgency and terrorism, thereby promoting healthy military-to-military relations between the two armies.

According to the Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian, a total of 144 troops from southwest China's Chengdu Military Command will join their Indian counterparts for the drill, code-named "Hand-in-Hand 2015".

The training will be the fifth of its kind between the two armies. The first was held in southwest China's Yunnan Province in 2007, followed by drills in Belgaum, India in 2008, southwest China's Sichuan in 2013, and in Pune in 2014.