In an attempt to promote healthy military-to-military relations between India and China, India has organised the annual Indo-China joint military exercise, Hand in Hand 2016 from November 15 to 27 in Pune.
Here’s are 7 key points of Hand in Hand 2016:
- This is the sixth such joint exercise being organised between the two countries. The first exercise was held in China’s Kunming of Yunnan province in 2007. The last exercise was held on October 15, 2015, at the Kunming Military Academy in China.
- The 2016 Hand in Hand Exercise has been planned at the company level with respective battalion headquarters controlling the training. The exercise will be supervised by a joint directing panel comprising senior officials of both the nations.
- The exercise seeks to promote healthy military to military relations between the two armies and developing joint strategies for conducting operations in a counter-terrorism environment.
- It will be conducted in three phases. The first phase will consist of familiarisation with weapons and equipment. The second phase will consist of basic training that includes combat conditioning, support weapon and practice of drills like the establishment of covert observation post, the firing of personal weapon, house clearing, cordon and search and humanitarian and disaster relief operations. The third phase of the exercise is the conduct of the joint exercise.
- This exercise will enrich the two contingents of both armies in further honing basic military skills.
- The exercise between two neighbours contributes immensely in developing mutual understanding and respect for each other’s military.
- The exercise will be attended by the senior military observers of both countries.
Earlier this year, in February and again in October, Indian and Chinese troops had participated in a joint exercise, Sino-Indian Cooperation 2016, first ever time to be held in eastern Ladakh’s Chushul Garrison. These exercises were seen as efforts complementing the ‘Hand in Hand’ series of joint exercises which is being held now.
