Article Posted on : - Sep 18, 2015

The joint Hand-In-Hand exercise held at Pune, India in 2014. An Army photo

NEW DELHI (PTI): India and China will hold their fifth 'Hand-in-Hand' military exercise next month in the Chinese city of Kunming, the engagement coming on the heels of a recent face-off between their troops at Burtse in Ladakh.

Army sources said the exercise will be held from October 11 to 23 and India will be sending a detachment of soldiers from the Naga Regiment for taking part in the same.

The 'Hand-in-Hand' exercise is aimed at exploring useful experiences, advancing pragmatic cooperation and promoting a friendly environment between the two armies, the sources said.

The first edition of the annual exercise was held at Kunming in December, 2007, following which India hosted a Chinese detachment as part of 'Hand-in-Hand' at Belgaum in December, 2008.

However, there was a gap of five years before a third edition of the exercise was held in China's Chengdu area in 2013 in which a group of 160 personnel from Indian Army's 16 Sikh Light Infantry had taken part.

The joint exercise which took place thereafter last year in Pune was to share the lessons learnt while tackling insurgency and terrorism so as to promote healthy military-to-military ties between the two armies and develop joint strategies for conducting operations in a counter-terrorism environment.

Forming part of the different levels of military-to-military engagement across the entire spectrum of operations, the exercise will enrich the two contingents for further honing their basic military skills, the sources said.

The exercise this year comes soon after the two armies operationalised their fifth border personnel meeting (BPM) point at Daulat Beg Oldi last month, which adds to the existing ones at Chushul (Ladakh), Nathu La (Sikkim), Bum La and Kibithu (Arunachal).

After a fresh face-off this month, the armies of India and China held two meetings at two different sites in Ladakh this week during which they agreed to maintain peace and tranquillity along the 465-km Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Ladakh sector.

During the meetings, the Chinese side was asked about the alleged violation by way of the building of a hut 1.5-km deep inside perceived Indian territory in Burtse, the sources said, adding that "both sides agreed to adhere to no defence construction along the LAC".

ITBP and Army jawans had on Friday demolished the hut in Burtse, which lies 210-km northeast of Leh, leading to a face-off between the two sides.

The hut, with a solar panel on top, had a camera which recorded the movement of Indian troops, the sources said. The construction was done by Chinese troops apparently to claim that the area belongs to them. The area is adjacent to Depsang plains where the neighbouring country's forces had pitched camps in April, 2013, leading to a three-week-long stalemate.