ID :
34345
Sun, 12/07/2008 - 07:53
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/34345
The shortlink copeid
Sino-Indian armies go hand-in-hand
Ajit K Dubey
Belgaum (Karnataka), Dec 6 (PTI) In the backdrop of the
recent terror attacks on India's financial capital Mumbai,
troops of India and China saturday launched a fortnight-long
military exercise focused on dealing with terrorism and
insurgency.
Amidst visible bonhomie and singing of Indian national
anthem and Hindi filmy songs by Chinese troops over dinner
last night, the first-ever Indo-Chinese military exercise on
the Indian soil 'Exercise Hand-in-Hand 2008' was kicked off
here in India's soutern state of Karnataka.
"The Chinese will be gaining tremendously from the long
Indian experience of fighting terrorism and insurgency since
the 1950s. But they are one of the few modern and
best-equipped armies and we will gain from them on the use of
these weapons," said 8 Maratha Light Infantry battalion's
commanding officer Colonel D S Bisht, whose men would be
exercising with the Peoples' Liberation Army troops here.
The focus of the exercise would be on increasing mutual
understanding between the two armies and joint counter
terrorism operations.
"Joint training and exercise is aimed at increasing
mutual understanding and trust between the two militaries,
promote mutual military interaction, share joint training to
achieve interoperability and improve relations between the
countries," Indian Army's Additional Director General (Public
Information) Maj Gen V K Narula said.
On the scope of the exercise, Narula said it would be
focused around training jointly for handling counter-terrorism
and counter-insurgency manoeuvers.
Gen Narula said, "the scope of the exercise is
visualisation of training-related to crisis-related
situations; and establishment of joint command and control
structure to counter specific terrorist threats, evolve joint
drills or conduct tactical counter-terrorist operations and to
neutralise terrorist threat by joint task force in simulated
conditions".
The exercise will be conducted in three phases and
witnessed by senior Chinese and Indian military observers on
December 11 and 12, when around 137 Chinese and Indian troops
with 35 officers each will be training jointly at the Maratha
Light Infantry Regimental Centre here.
The Indian Air Force will chip in with its Mi-17
helicopters, which will be used by the two sides for
slithering operations.
In the phase one, both sides will familiarise with each
other's organisational structure and weapons used by them and
during the second phase, the two sides will carry on building
up the momentum by conducting joint training and drills.
After perfecting their joint drills, the two army troops
will carry out a joint counter terrorist operation codenamed
'Exercise Fox Hunt', where the two sides carry out coordinated
search operations (CASO) and neutralisation of impromptu
targets.
"A simulated terrorist crisis scenario will also be
simulated by the two sides. They will establish a joint
command post to tackle a terrorist situation," he said.
Commenting on the problems faced by the two sides during
these exercises, Gen Narula said the only hindrance during
last year's exercise at Kunming in China was the
language-barrier and they were trying to get over the obstacle
this year.
"We would like to improve our communication skills this
time. We have found subsequently that a symbol language really
works a lot. If one does not understand the spoken language,
the symbols do very well. We want to make sure that we
communicate better with them and we have more number of
translators from Chinese to English," Gen Narula said.
Comparing the first and the second editions of the
exercise, PLA's Senior Colonel Huang Xue Ping said "it is
another normal training programme after last year's training
in China."
He said China had earlier carried out similar exercises
with ten other countries.
On future exercises between the two countries, Maj Gen
Narula said the current set of joint exercise made the two
armies graduate to more sophisticated and advanced exercises.
"May be the level of participation may increase in
subsequent years and more than that we are looking at
confidence building measures (CBMs). We are looking at both
countries coming together and jointly working and having
common understanding of each other," he added.
Indian contingent commander Brigadier S K Patyal said the
counter-terrorism exercise was not aimed against any third
country, but was purely to learn anti-terrorists skills.
Later in the day, the two sides displayed their weapons
and systems to familiarise each other with their equipment.
Traditional martial arts of India and China too were
showcased, with the latter showing great interest in the desi
'Malkhamb' and 'Kalaripayattu', and the former keenly watching
the 'Kung Fu' and 'Shadow Boxing' of their counterparts.
Belgaum (Karnataka), Dec 6 (PTI) In the backdrop of the
recent terror attacks on India's financial capital Mumbai,
troops of India and China saturday launched a fortnight-long
military exercise focused on dealing with terrorism and
insurgency.
Amidst visible bonhomie and singing of Indian national
anthem and Hindi filmy songs by Chinese troops over dinner
last night, the first-ever Indo-Chinese military exercise on
the Indian soil 'Exercise Hand-in-Hand 2008' was kicked off
here in India's soutern state of Karnataka.
"The Chinese will be gaining tremendously from the long
Indian experience of fighting terrorism and insurgency since
the 1950s. But they are one of the few modern and
best-equipped armies and we will gain from them on the use of
these weapons," said 8 Maratha Light Infantry battalion's
commanding officer Colonel D S Bisht, whose men would be
exercising with the Peoples' Liberation Army troops here.
The focus of the exercise would be on increasing mutual
understanding between the two armies and joint counter
terrorism operations.
"Joint training and exercise is aimed at increasing
mutual understanding and trust between the two militaries,
promote mutual military interaction, share joint training to
achieve interoperability and improve relations between the
countries," Indian Army's Additional Director General (Public
Information) Maj Gen V K Narula said.
On the scope of the exercise, Narula said it would be
focused around training jointly for handling counter-terrorism
and counter-insurgency manoeuvers.
Gen Narula said, "the scope of the exercise is
visualisation of training-related to crisis-related
situations; and establishment of joint command and control
structure to counter specific terrorist threats, evolve joint
drills or conduct tactical counter-terrorist operations and to
neutralise terrorist threat by joint task force in simulated
conditions".
The exercise will be conducted in three phases and
witnessed by senior Chinese and Indian military observers on
December 11 and 12, when around 137 Chinese and Indian troops
with 35 officers each will be training jointly at the Maratha
Light Infantry Regimental Centre here.
The Indian Air Force will chip in with its Mi-17
helicopters, which will be used by the two sides for
slithering operations.
In the phase one, both sides will familiarise with each
other's organisational structure and weapons used by them and
during the second phase, the two sides will carry on building
up the momentum by conducting joint training and drills.
After perfecting their joint drills, the two army troops
will carry out a joint counter terrorist operation codenamed
'Exercise Fox Hunt', where the two sides carry out coordinated
search operations (CASO) and neutralisation of impromptu
targets.
"A simulated terrorist crisis scenario will also be
simulated by the two sides. They will establish a joint
command post to tackle a terrorist situation," he said.
Commenting on the problems faced by the two sides during
these exercises, Gen Narula said the only hindrance during
last year's exercise at Kunming in China was the
language-barrier and they were trying to get over the obstacle
this year.
"We would like to improve our communication skills this
time. We have found subsequently that a symbol language really
works a lot. If one does not understand the spoken language,
the symbols do very well. We want to make sure that we
communicate better with them and we have more number of
translators from Chinese to English," Gen Narula said.
Comparing the first and the second editions of the
exercise, PLA's Senior Colonel Huang Xue Ping said "it is
another normal training programme after last year's training
in China."
He said China had earlier carried out similar exercises
with ten other countries.
On future exercises between the two countries, Maj Gen
Narula said the current set of joint exercise made the two
armies graduate to more sophisticated and advanced exercises.
"May be the level of participation may increase in
subsequent years and more than that we are looking at
confidence building measures (CBMs). We are looking at both
countries coming together and jointly working and having
common understanding of each other," he added.
Indian contingent commander Brigadier S K Patyal said the
counter-terrorism exercise was not aimed against any third
country, but was purely to learn anti-terrorists skills.
Later in the day, the two sides displayed their weapons
and systems to familiarise each other with their equipment.
Traditional martial arts of India and China too were
showcased, with the latter showing great interest in the desi
'Malkhamb' and 'Kalaripayattu', and the former keenly watching
the 'Kung Fu' and 'Shadow Boxing' of their counterparts.
