Indian, Chinese armies exercise heliborne operation

India and Chinese army contingents Thursday rehearsed "special heliborne operations" as part of training exercise 'Hand in Hand' 2013 being held south of Chengdu in Sichuan province.

According to an official statement, the two contingents familiarised and learned from each others drills on special heliborne operations.

"The exercise progressively moved on to the next phase wherein special heliborne operations were rehearsed today (Thursday) by mixed companies of the two nations participating in the exercise," the statement said.

It said rehearsals on slithering were initially carried out from a static platform and later from two helicopters.

"The companies were divided into sticks (small teams) fully equipped to operate in counter-terrorism environment. These special operations will be used for establishing outer cordon or house intervention during the live exercise on cordon and search operations to be held in the later phases," the statement said.

It said physical training and endurance were also being focused upon and the participants were playing outdoor games in mixed teams to foster quicker friendship and understanding.

A total of about 320 soldiers from the two countries are taking part in the exercise that began Tuesday to enhance their counter-terrorism skills.

-Indo-Asian News Service

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