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China, India wrap up first combined military exercise

China and India completed their first-ever joint military exercises yesterday with a drill in which they "wiped out" a group of supposed terrorists along their border, state media reported.

In the mock scenario, 56 members of an unnamed international terrorist organization had taken hostages after establishing a training base along the two countries' border, Xinhua news agency said.

"The finale maneuver involved establishing a joint command post ... before wiping out a group of `terrorists' and rescuing `hostages,'" Xinhua said.

The three-hour drill was the culmination of five days of exercises between about 100 troops from each of the two countries' militaries in southwest China's Yunnan Province, which borders India.

Chinese officials had initially said the exercises were meant to last for nine days. However the Xinhua report said they were only a five-day operation, without giving a reason for the different timeframe.

The military exercises were the first ever between the regional rivals, which fought a brief war 45 years ago over rival claims to Himalayan territory in a dispute that has still not been resolved.

India says China occupies 38,000km2 of its territory, while Beijing claims the whole of the northeastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, which is 90,000km2.

Nevertheless China and India have enjoyed a thaw in relations in recent years and the military exercises have been characterised by both sides as a sign of the warming ties.
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