NEW DELHI: India and China will hold a 4-day joint military exercise in Pune from November 3. The original venue for this exercise was Bathinda in Punjab but China felt the city was too hot and preferred Pune. Observers said China may have asked for shifting of the venue to avoid sending its army personnel to the Pakistan border.
Called “hand-in-hand,” the exercise will be the fourth edition since it started in 2007 when Kunming in China hosted it, followed by Belgaum in 2008 and Miaoergang in China last year. The joint exercise was proposed every year but there was a 5-year break after Belgaum: India had suspended all military ties with Beijing after China refused a visa to a lieutenant general on the premise that he was serving in the “disputed” Jammu and Kashmir.
