Chinese and Indian armies began an anti-terrorism military drill
in southwest China Tuesday morning, the third and also the last
stage of their first-ever five-day joint anti-terrorism military
training.
Chinese and Indian armies began an anti-terrorism military drill
in southwest China Tuesday morning, the third and also the last
stage of their first-ever five-day joint anti-terrorism military
training.
The military drill began at 7:30?AM on Tuesday at a hilly
terrain near Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, with the
participation of 206 ground troops from the two armies.
It is designed that 56 "terrorists" from "a certain
international terrorism organization" have entered the border area
of China and India. They "established" a training base and intended
to attack a trading port on the border between the two
countries.
The finale maneuver involves establishing a joint command post,
joint battle decision-making, implementation of anti-terrorism
operation before wiping out a group of "terrorists" and rescuing
"hostages."
The Chinese and Indian troops broke into the "training camp of
the terrorists" at 9:25?AM and began to rescue "hostages" at
10:25 AM.
Helicopters, tanks, trench mortars and grenade launchers have
been employed in the drill, according to sources with the drill
headquarters.
The drill is scheduled to last about three hours and a half and
then, a closing ceremony will be held to mark the conclusion of the
Sino-Indian joint anti-terrorism military training code-named
"Hand-in-Hand 2007".
The anti-terrorism military training, which began on Friday
morning, is being carried out to implement the provisions of the
Memorandum of Understanding for Exchanges and Cooperation in the
Field of Defense signed between the defense ministries of China and
India on May 29, 2006.
The joint training was intended to enhance mutual understanding
and trust, said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang on
Thursday.
Qin also said the training also aimed to strengthen the two
countries' exchanges in the field of anti-terrorism, deter the
"three evil forces" of terrorism, separatism and extremism, and
promote the development of the bilateral strategic partnership.
"This joint military training does not aim at any third party,"
said Zhou Xiaoyi, an official with the foreign affairs office under
the Ministry of National Defense.
Before Tuesday's finale drill, Chinese and Indian soldiers had
displayed their own weapons and equipment, jointly accomplished a
series of training tasks including psychological training and
tactics trainings.
(Xinhua News Agency December 25, 2007)
