India began a bilateral naval exercise with the US in the Bay of Bengal on Tuesday, even as its troops landed in Chengdu for a counter-terrorism drill beginning this week.
China has closely watched the Malabar series of India-US naval exercises when it started in 2007.
Initially it involved India, US and five other Asian navies.
It was seen as a move to contain China but India moved away from it and restricted the exercise to a bilateral one to assuage Chinese apprehensions.
During Manmohan Singh’s October visit to Beijing, India made it clear it was not interested to be part of any move to ‘contain China’.
“Ex Malabar is a regularly scheduled bilateral naval field training exercise (that has) matured over the years… (and is) conducted to advance multinational maritime relationships and mutual security issues,” a statement from the navy said.
The exercise is “designed to advance participating nations’ co-ordination and capacity to plan and execute tactical operations in a multinational environment”, it said.
The drills would involve professional exchanges and embarkation, and communications exercises. They would also include surface action group operations, leapfrogs, helicopter cross-deck evolutions, gunnery exercises, board search and seizure and anti-submarine warfare.
The US Navy battlegroup for the exercise includes the Arleigh Burke class guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell and P3C Orion surveillance aircraft. The Indian Navy is deploying indigenously built Frigate Shivalik, Guided Missile Destroyer Ranvijay and TU-142M Maritime Reconnaissance aircraft.
“Our navies are natural partners, and we look forward to continuing to strengthen the bonds and personnel relations between our navies through the conduct of the Malabar series of exercises,” the navy statement said.
Meanwhile, a company of Indian army troops also reached Chengdu in China today for the bilateral exercise “Hand-in-Hand” that is being revived after being stalled for three years, the ‘Telegraph’ reported.
These exercises were held twice, the first in Kunming, China, and the second in Belgaum.
But it was put off after India-China relations turned tense following China’s refusal of a visa to the Indian Army’s northern commander.
Then after a Chinese patrol ‘intruded’ into territory claimed by India in eastern Ladakh, the exercise went into a limbo.
But Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pushed the defence establishment to revive it after several high level visits between the two countries.
A total of 162 soldiers of the Indian Army reached Chengdu on Monday.
The “joint training exercise” will be held till Nov 14 at Miaoergang, 90km from Chengdu. The modalities for the exercise were decided after the 5th Annual Defence Dialogue held at Beijing in January this year.
Indian Army sources said this year’s drill would have a larger participation by Indian soldiers. The drill will be practised in a “counter terrorism setting”.
“It is aimed at enhancing interoperability, cooperation and understanding between the two armies,” an army statement said.
The Indian Army’s observer delegation led by the Director General of Military Operations will attend the opening ceremony along with an observer delegation from China’s Peoples’ Liberation Army led by the deputy commander in chief of Chengdu Military Region.
Source: Bd news24
