China, India anti-terror joint military exercise ends

Beijing, Nov 13:

and

armies on Wednesday ended their 10-day joint anti-

training exercise with a live fire drill in southwest China, demonstrating their determination in jointly safeguarding regional peace and stability.

Code-named 'Hand-in-Hand 2013', the joint training session included demonstration of weapons, exchange of tactics and mixed training in arrest of suspects and rescue of hostages in which 144 soldiers from each side took part.

The joint training has expanded fields for military exchanges and cooperation between China and India, said Zhou Xiaozhou, chief of staff of the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Chengdu Military Area Command.

It also demonstrated the goodwill and determination of the two nations in jointly safeguarding regional peace and stability and creating a harmonious development environment for both sides, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Zhou as saying.

The drill, held in Sichuan Province, was the third joint military exercise between China and India and were resumed after a gap of five years.

The joint training session was code-named 'Hand-in-Hand 2013'.

The two countries conducted their first joint anti-terror training in southwest China's Yunnan Province in 2007 while their most recent exercise was carried out in Belgaum in Karnataka in 2008.

The annual exercises, however, suffered a setback after India called off military exchanges to protest the denial of visa to a top Indian General heading the Northern Command on the ground that Jammu and Kashmir formed part of a disputed territory.

The exchanges resumed after China rescinded on its decision and resumed issuing regular visas for Jammu and Kashmir residents, paving the way for resumption of military relations.

The two countries signed the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) last month to comprehensively address problems arising out of aggressive patrolling at the disputed border.

PTI