India-China finalise plans to hold anti terrorism drills

Beijing: India and China have finalised arrangements to hold joint anti-terrorism exercises later this year even as they are grappling with the issue of intrusion by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) forces into the Depsang Valley in Ladakh. Separately, officials of the two countries are also poised to hold talks on river waters next week to address New Delhi’s concerns over Beijing’s plans to construct new dams on Brahmaputra as well as liberalisation of visa regime between the two countries ahead of External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid visit here on May 9. [caption id=“attachment_734257” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representative Image. IBNLive. [/caption] This week, a three-member Indian delegation, headed by Brigadier Y K Joshi, visited Chengdu, the headquarters of the Military Brigade that is largely focussed on Tibet and China’s borders with India, official sources here told PTI. They discussed preparations for the exercises being resumed after gap of four years, the sources said. The visit of the Indian military delegation assumed significance as the both militaries were at loggerheads over Chinese soldiers pitching tents at Daulat Beg Oldi (DBO) in Ladakh, which India said is an intrusion. It has asked the PLA to restore status quo. The Indian military delegation discussed the composition of the troops to take part in the exercises, besides the logistics and the format of which will be anti terrorism. PTI