India, China to hold joint military anti-terror exercise next month

India, China to hold joint military anti-terror exercise next month
# 19 November 2019 07:44 (UTC +04:00)

The armies of China and India will hold a joint military drill in December in India to improve their capabilities in fighting terrorism and to promote mutual understanding.
Both the Indian and the Chinese side will send 130 troops to take part in the 8th India and China joint military exercises - 'Hand in Hand' - focusing on counter-terrorism operations, Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh revealed on Monday on the first day of the parliament's Winter Session, APA rpeorts quoitng sputniknews.

In 2018, the annual exercise was held in China's Chengdu city, in which 100 troops participated.

The exercise did not take place in 2017 due to a 72-day standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in Doklam - a tri-junction at the border of India, Bhutan and China.
The standoff brought a drastic change in ties between the two countries, which later normalised following the disengagement of the standoff in August of 2018.

The exercise comes in the backdrop of India facing opposition from China on the issue of declaring Ladakh a separate territory, which Beijing claims undermines “China’s territorial sovereignty by unilaterally changing its domestic law”.
On 13 November, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the 11th BRICS summit in Brasilia. The leaders noted that Special Representatives will meet again regarding the so-called boundary question and reiterated the importance of maintaining peace and security in border areas.

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THE OPERATION IS BEING PERFORMED