India-China military drill in Meghalaya in December

The Indian and Chinese militaries will be engaged in a joint military exercise that will involve tactical-level operations in a semi-urban terrain for an international counter-terrorist operation, a defence official said on Monday.

The annual exercise 'Hand-in-Hand' 2019, with the theme of counter-terrorism under a United Nations mandate, is scheduled to be conducted at the state-of-the-art Joint Training Node at Umroi Cantonment, about 25 km from Shillong, from December 7 and go on till December 20.

Shillong-based defence spokesperson, Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh said the Chinese contingent, from the Tibet Military command, will comprise 130 personnel and the Indian contingent will be of similar strength in the 14-day-long training exercise.

He said the exercise is planned at the company level with the respective Battalion Headquarters controlling the training.

"The aim of the exercise is to practice joint planning and conduct of counter- terrorist operation in semi-urban terrain," Singh said.

He said the exercise schedule is focused upon training with various lectures & drills associated with counter terrorist handling, firing with each other's weapons, battle obstacles course, special heliborne operations and case studies of various operations carried out in a counter-terrorist environment.

"Two tactical exercises are scheduled during the training - a counter terrorism scenario and the other on Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations," Singh said.-IANS