The fifth edition of military exercise between the Indian and Chinese Armies will be held at Kunming, the southern military region of China's Peoples Liberation Army (PLA).
The fortnight long exercise will begin on October 11, with an inaugural ceremony, which will be attended by the top brass of both the armies, sources in the Defence Ministry told UNI. The exercise, which is code named as "Hand in Hand" comes exactly a month after both the sides were locked in a brief stand-off in Burtse region of northern Ladakh along the disputed border over the issue of a watch tower constructed by the Chinese Army ,which was brought down by the Army troops as the other side did not heed to objection raised by the Indian side. Situation was resolved after two simultaneous meetings were held between the local army commanders of two sides at Burtse and Chushul border post.
This is the third time that China is hosting the Indian Army for a battalion level exercise after it started in 2007. The annual exercise is held in India and China on rotational basis. The exercise had remained terminated for four years over the issue of stapled visa, which China was insisting on issuing to people of Arunachal Pradesh, claiming it to be a disputed region.
Finally, the exercise was restored in 2013 after China blinked and terminated the practice of issuing stapled visa.
The exercise is crucial part of the confidence building measures the two countries have been putting in place time to time to maintain peace at the their more than four thousand km long disputed border.
India has been pushing China for the verification of the LAC, which witnesses frequent transgression by the Chinese army.
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