NEW DELHI – India is set to launch its biggest war games in disputedArunachal Pradesh, near the Chinese border.
The exercise, involving around 15,000 soldiers, including air forcepersonnel, is most likely to coincide with Chinese President Xi Jinping’svisit to India in October for bilateral dialogue on a range of issues,including the border dispute.
The exercise will also serve as a launching ground for Integrated BattleGroupslink(IBG)by the Indian Army’s 17 Mountain Corps.
IBG is a brand new war-fighting concept that includes a cross-border strikecapability mooted by Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat last December.The exercise will be carried out at an altitude of 10,000-feet in thepresence of General Rawat, along with other top commanders of the 1.3million-strong Indian Army.
In 2005, India and China signed an agreement discouraging each other fromholding exercise in the region involving more than 15,000 troops.
“As part of the war games, the troops of the Tezpur-based 4 Corps will bedeployed at a high altitude location to defend their ‘territory’ while abrigade-sized force (over 2,500 troops) of the 17 Mountain Strike Corpswould be airlifted by the Indian Air Force (IAF) to ‘launch an offensive’against them”, top Indian Army sources told the news agency ANI.
India’s war doctrine emphasises that all forces deployed along the Chineseborder shall be self-contained in all aspects and capable of fighting inisolation. “Strike formations shall be suitably mobilised, postured andacclimatised for rapid application”, it adds.
Read Top Stories
India and China share a nearly 4,000 km border and, aside from the middlesector, most of the region has a disputed border, including ArunachalPradesh, which China calls South Tibet.
The recent border tension started in August this year when New Delhideclared Ladakh a separate administrative territorylink.
China expressed serious concern over this and asked India to restore thestatus of Ladakh, which India politely declined, claiming the decision doesnot have any impact on the status of the Line of Actual Control – a loosedemarcation that separates the two Asian giants.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi cancelled his visit to New Delhi,scheduled for 9 September, where he was supposed to hold specialrepresentative talks on the boundary question. -Sputnik
