India and China army exercises in Pune in November

Kalyan Ray, October 22, 2014 ( Agencies)  In the fourth such exercise, the armies of India and China will participate in a drill focussing on counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency in Pune between November 16 and 27.India and China zeroed in on a new location and time to conduct the exercise at a final preparatory-level meeting after the Army expressed concerns about Bhatinda, which is close to the Pakistan border, as the venue for the “Hand-in-hand” exercise. Even earlier, it was decided that the exercise would be held in Barrackpore, West Bengal, but it was later changed to Bhatinda.

Around 180 Indian troops led by a Colonel-rank



officer will participate in the drill, which will be conducted under the aegis of the Army's Southern Command. This would be the fourth Army exercise between the two countries and the second in India. The first one was held at Belgaum in November 2008, while two others took place in China – Kunming in 2007 and Chengdu in 2013.  At the end of last month’s meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and China President Xi Jinping, the two countries released a joint statement that a fourth joint Army exercise would be conducted at a mutually convenient time. The specifics were, however, not mentioned as the Army was having second thoughts about holding the exercise Bhatinda.