A 100-member strong contingent of the Indian armed forces have landed in Chengdu, southwest China, for the "Hand-in-Hand" joint military exercise.
"Indian Army contingent led by Col. Puneet Tomar arrived in Chengdu for the India China Hand-in-Hand joint training exercises to be held from 10-23 December in China," Indian embassy in Beijing said.
Exercise #HandInHand is conducted as part of military diplomacy and interaction between armies of #India and #China. The joint exercise for the year 2018 is aimed at enhancing interoperability and #Synergy. pic.twitter.com/3TrljwfYDt
— ADG PI — INDIAN ARMY (@adgpi) December 9, 2018
The 7th in the series "Hand-in-Hand" exercises will be presented by 100 soldiers from each side that will undergo adaptive training, basic training, live-round shooting and comprehensive drills.
"The joint training can help promote mutual trust and understanding, deepen practical exchanges and cooperation between troops and improve their capabilities in counter-terrorism," Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for the Ministry of National Defense of China said on November 29 about the exercise.
Following the Wuhan summit that was considered an icebreaker after the Doklam standoff, top leaders of the two countries met several times this year including four meetings between Modi and Jinping on the sidelines of different global forums. Later this month, China's foreign minister Wang Yi is scheduled to arrive in New Delhi to launch a forum for high-level people-to-people and cultural exchange on December 21.
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"This year has remained very important and fruitful for our bilateral relations. I am confident that next year would be much better than this. Wuhan informal summit was a major milestone in our relationship that provides momentum to our engagement and opens new vistas in our co-operation," Prime Minister Modi said after meeting Xi Jinping on the sidelines of G-20 summit in Argentina.
