India and China are set to resume their joint military drills on Tuesday after a gap of one year. The joint military drill will be held in the Chinese city of Chengdu. The opening ceremony of the drill will be held on December 11.
The joint military drill will be a ‘hand-in-hand’ military drill which will focus on counter-terrorism operations, as informed by Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Col Ren Guoqiang. The drill is being held after a gap of one year as it could not be held earlier due to the strained relations of the two countries over Doklam issue which had led to a 73-day standoff in 2017. Later on, when China stopped the construction of the contentious road, the relations between the two sides improved and a meeting was held between Prime Minister Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping in the Wuhan (China) in April 2018.
The 7th India-China joint military exercise is scheduled to conclude on December 23. Both the countries will send 100 troops each in the military exercise which will include live shooting and adoptive and basic training. Col Ren said that the exercise is true to its name ‘hand-in-hand’ as the Indian and the Chinese militaries should also work hand in hand for the benefit of the people in both the nations. “The drill will promote understanding between the two militaries and improving their capabilities in fighting terrorism”, he added.
As part of the efforts for improving the relations by the two countries post-Doklam, a couple of meetings were held in the month of November this year. On November 13, India and China held the 9th Annual Defence and Security Dialogue after the one-year gap caused by the Doklam standoff. Both the countries agreed to enhance military exchanges and interactions. Thereafter on Nov 24, The two countries held the 21st round of border talks to maintain peace and tranquility at the border.