India's after joint military maneuver with China

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, October 20, 2003

India's after joint military maneuver with China

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According to a recent report in the newspaper "The Hindu", Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes appealed in Patna, capital city of Bihar state in India on October 10 "Indian and China's armies should develop more military contacts including joint military exercises, which will benefit both countries."

As early as Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's successful visit to China in June, the news that China and India would jointly launch the first marine military exercise has drawn much attention from among various international media. On June 27, Vice Chief of Indian Naval Staff, Vice Admiral John C. DeSilva announced in New Delhi that India and China's navies planned to launch their first marine military exercise later this year, which was one of the significant achievements of Vajpayee's visit. According to DeSilva, subjects such as naval searching, rescue at sea will be included in the joint military exercise. He pointed out that as Sino-Indian relations by and by thawed, navies of the two countries are constantly making increasing exchanges and have sent officials to each other's military educational departments for study and exchanges, yet with regard to joint military exercise, it's so far the first time. Currently, relevant personnel of the two parties are mapping out a detailed plan concerning the date and place etc. of the military exercises through negotiation.

Reporters with "Times of India" got through various channels that the idea of Sino-India joint navy maneuver was first put forward by India. In fact, India has long had such an idea since April 2003 when Indian Defense Minister George Fernandes visited China. As DeSilva put it, the main gunboats of the two parties will conduct the three-day marine search and rescue exercises. It is a common view among observers of international military affairs that the first Sino-India military exercise will strike a symbolizing significance. This joint exercise is one of the measures taken to establish mutual trust, indicating the two countries are ready to abandon the past "pain and suspicion" and ending the lethargy over decades in the past.

In recent years, Indian military department has been keen on joint military exercises with its foreign counterparts. Among its partners are military powers such as the United States, Russia, Britain and France as well as Oman, Singapore, Indonesia, Myanmar and Japan. Due to historical reasons, China's defense construction has always been an important element for Indian military department to work out a long-term strategy and development plan. Ever since Sino-Indian relations were being gradually improved in the 1990s, India military department has expected to have exchanges with its Chinese counterpart, so as to get a closer view of China's army and improve its own.

This is an article on the thirteenth page of Global Times, October 15, 2003, written by Qian Feng, translated by PD Online staff member Gao Lanrong.

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