Article Posted on : - Nov 18, 2014

Indian and Chinese Army soldiers at the commencement of 4th India China Joint Training Exercise Hand-in- Hand 2014 in Pune on Monday. A PTI Photo

PUNE/NEW DELHI (PTI): India and China on Monday began their joint "Hand-in-Hand" army exercise focusing on counter- insurgency and counter-terrorism tactics, weeks after a stand-off between their troops along the border in Ladakh region.

"Hand-in-Hand" is an exercise aimed at exploring useful experiences, advancing pragmatic cooperation and promoting a friendly environment between the two armies and is being held in Pune.

The first such annual exercise was held at Kunming in China in December 2007 while the second was held at Belgaum in December 2008.

However, there was a gap of five years till an exercise was held in China's Chengdu area last year in which a group of 160 personnel from Indian Army's 16 Sikh Light Infantry had participated.

The Chinese contingent from the 13 Group Army, Chengdu Military Region comprising one infantry company along with supporting staff, landed at the Lohegaon airfield in Pune in two IL-76 aircraft directly from China yesterday.

The 12-day schedule is focused on training on crossing of obstacles, special heliborne operations, firing of various weapons, handling and neutralisation of improvised explosive devices and conduct of cordon and search operations in insurgency and terrorism environment.

An opening ceremony was held at the parade ground in Aundh Military Camp.

It was attended by Lt General Bobby Mathews, Corps Commander of the Indian Army, and Lt General Shi Xiangyuan, Deputy Commander of Chengdu Military Command of the People's Liberation Army, besides many senior army officials of the both nations.

The parade was commanded by Lt Colonel Tian Jeiwen, Commanding Officer of People's Liberation Army contingent.

Both the senior military officers addressed the contingents before Lt General Shi declared the joint exercise open, an army statement said.

The objective of the training is enhancing confidence and trust between the two armies which may be called upon to deal with anti-terrorism operations under the UN mandate.

The conduct of joint military exercises is also an important step to uphold the values of peace, prosperity and stability in the region by jointly eradicating terrorism, the statement said.

The opening ceremony was followed by both the contingents displaying their weapons which included assault rifles, grenade launchers and other sophisticated equipment.

The ceremony concluded with an enthralling display of Indian martial arts of Kalyaripattu and khukri dance by soldiers of Indian Army and a massed martial arts display by the Chinese contingent.