Indian, Chinese armies share anti-terror skills

The 11-day Sino-Indian military exercise is the second in the series that kicked off with an anti-terror exercise in Kunming, China, in October 2007. India and China, who fought a war in 1962, had agreed to hold joint military exercises after a visit by then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

On the second day of the exercise, as the 137-strong Chinese troops, including 40 officers from the 1st Company of Infantry Battalion of Chengdu Military Area Command, watched, the Indian Army showed them cordon and search operations, setting up a mobile check post and conducting an operation directed at a house, where suspected terrorists are holed.

Before the actual exercise culminates, both units will undertake joint tactical manoeuvers and drills and joint command post procedures, finally climaxing in a joint counter-terrorist operational exercise with a simulated terrorist hideout camp.

“The prime aim of conducting a joint exercise is to acquaint both the armies with each other’s operating procedures and thus ensuring better compatibility amongst the two armies. This exercise is being conducted so that armies of both the nations can share their experiences and technological knowhow in curbing terrorism,” Major General V K Narula said in the opening address on Friday.

His Chinese counterpart, senior Colonel (equivalent to Brigadier in the Indian Army), Huang Xue Ping echoed similar sentiments, adding that both the countries needed to understand that terrorism had no religion and no particular community should be targeted.

In the weapon display on Saturday, the Chinese showed off their range of infantry armaments, including anti-tank rockets, infra reds sights, automatic grenade launchers, sniper rifles, light machine guns, dagger pistols and riot-dispersing non-fatal bombs. The Indians, on their part, showed bulkier weapons like INSAS rifle, INSAS Light Machine Gun, automatic grenade launcher, anti-material launcher and rocket launcher.