NEW DELHI – Suspended after the Doklam face-off, the bilateral militaryexercise of India and China is likely to resume this year, in sync withrenewed efforts by both the countries to reset ties hit by a tense standoffbetween their troops, government sources said on Wednesday, PTI hasreported.
The exercise ‘Hand-in-Hand’ between the armies of the two countries willtake place within the next 4-5 months in China and an announcement islikely to be made very soon, sources told PTI.
It is learnt that the issue of resumption of the annual exercise hadfigured during talks between Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and herChinese counterpart General Wei Fenghe in Beijing on Tuesday.
Sitharaman was in Beijing to attend a meeting of defence ministers of SCO(Shanghai Cooperation Organisation) countries.
Prime Narendra Modi is travelling to Chinese city of Wuhan on Friday on atwo-day visit to hold an “informal summit” with Chinese President XiJinping, seen as an effort to build mutual trust between the two sides.
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou said the two leaders will try toreach important consensus to resolve outstanding issues and build mutualtrust during their talks in Wuhan.
The government sources said both sides want to resume the military exerciseas it will act as a confidence building measure between the two armies.
The annual exercise was to be hosted by China in 2017 but it did not takeplace due to the Doklam standoff. So far, both sides have participated insix editions of the exercise. India had hosted the exercise in 2016.
Troops of India and China were locked in a 73-day-long standoff in Doklamfrom June 16 last year after the Indian side stopped the building of a roadin the disputed area by the Chinese Army. The face off was “resolved” onAugust 28 last year.
The area in Doklam where China tried to construct a road is a disputedterritory claimed by both China and Bhutan. India sent its troops to stopthe Chinese construction activity, saying it could be a threat to itsstrategic interests in the region