Agence France-Presse, The first ever joint India-China army exercise, scheduled for November, has been delayed because the giant Asian rivals cannot decide on a date or venue, an Indian official said Oct. 9.
A Chinese team was expected in New Delhi last month to finalize the details of the exercise but called off its visit, said the government official, who declined to be named.
The November exercise was to be an anti-terrorism drill involving about 150 troops of both sides and aimed at increasing the “confidence levels” between the two countries, which fought a brief but bitter border war in 1962.
“China has now said that the venue and dates can be discussed at a meeting of defense officials later this month,” he said.
The two nations have in the past conducted joint naval exercises in the East China Sea, but otherwise contacts between two of the world’s largest armed forces have been scant.
India says China occupies 38,000 square kilometers (14,670 square miles) of its territory, while Beijing claims 90,000 square kilometers, or the whole of the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
