Defence News India: As a part of confidence building measure, Indian Army and China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) completed the 8th round of joint military exercise Hand-in-Hand 2019 in eastern state of Meghalaya on Friday. The exercise was conducted at Joint Training Node in Umroi, Meghalaya. The exercise was aimed at practicing the joint drills of counter terrorism operations in a semi urban terrain under United Nation mandate, Indian Army said in a statement.
The exercise entailed firing of each other’s weapons, conduct of tactical lectures & demonstration by both countries with respect to various aspects of counter terrorism operations.
The high standards achieved by both contingents were on display during a 72 hours field training exercise that required seamless integration of action on the part of troops.
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The exercise culminated with a glittery closing ceremony where the participating troops displayed high standards of military drill.
“The bonhomie achieved between the troops was at display during the Camp fire,” Indian Army said after the exercise.
These exercises are aimed at bridging the trust deficit between the two Asian powers as their armies have often clashed at disputed zones of the border.
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Indian Army said: “Two armies have gained from each other’s expertise and experience in conduct of counter terrorism & company level operations.”
The closing ceremony was reviewed by Major General JS Sandhu in presence of other senior officers of both the participating countries. The Chinese side was represented by Major General Li Shizong.
Joint military exercises:
Indian military leadership has been giving greater importance to joint military exercises with foreign countries. Just this week India concluded a joint tri-service military exercise Indra 2019 with Russian military.
Indian military also conducted first ever tri-service joint military exercise Tiger Triumph with US military last month.
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