More Sino-India military exercises in NE

As the Chinese Army is preparing to take part in India's 61st Independence Day celebrations at the high altitudes of Bumla in Arunachal Pradesh, it has also evinced keen interest in the elite counter-insurgency training imparted by the Vairengete-based Counter Insurgency Jungle Warfare school of the Indian Army.

Commandant of the CIJW Brigadier Anil Ram told a group of visiting Indian journalists at the Vairengete-based CIJW that following the Chinese Army's interest a platoon of the Indian Army would be specifically trained, which in turn would train the Chinese contingents.

Vairengete is located at the southern tip of the Northeastern region at the gate of Mizoram. On the opposite side of the border in Bumla, at the extreme tip of the North, activities are on to celebrate the 61st Independence Day with pomp and gaiety, where about 150 Chinese officers, soldiers and their families are expected to participate.

The CIJW commander informed that so far, the counter-insurgency institute has trainee commandos from 28 countries, but this is the first time that China had evinced interest in this unique institution which has been the most sought after by Armies around the world.

The CIJW has decided to train the Chinese personnel through another batch of the specifically

trained commandos of the Indian Army at an undisclosed location.

"At this moment I cannot say the exact location, which will be decided by the Ministry of Defence," Brigadier Ram said.

Last year, India and China had conducted a joint exercise codenamed 'Hand in Hand 2007' at the Kunming's Military Academy where 206 soldiers and officers of the Indian Army took part. The proposed training will be a sequel to the 2007 exercise.

In November 2003, the Indian and Chinese Navies conducted search and rescue operation at Shanghai, on August 28, 2004, a joint mountaineering activity was conducted between the two Armies, in December 2005 both the Navies again conducted a search and rescue operation at Cochin, while in April 2006 Indian naval ships visited Qingdao.

Presently, a joint Indo-US exercise is going on at the CIJW with focus on small team operations in counter-insurgency environment in jungles and semi-mountainous terrain.

The Brigadier said the Indo-US exercise will be the fifth in the series of joint trainings. The first joint exercise was held in April 2003, the second in March 2004, the third in September 2004 while the last one in August last year.

In the last four joint trainings, a total of 133 US personnel have undergone training here, he said.