Chinese army contingent reaches Meghalaya for 14-day exercise

A 139-strong contingent of the China's People's Liberation Army arrived here on Friday for the joint military exercise with India, officials said.

The eighth India-China joint training exercise -- 'Hand-in-Hand 2019' -- would commence on Saturday at Umroi in Meghalaya.

Led by Major General Li Shizhong and Senior Col Wang Weijun from the Tibet Military command, the exercise is planned at the company-level with respective battalion headquarters controlling the training, the officials said.

The 14-day-long training exercise is to practice joint planning and conduct of counter-terror operations in semi- urban terrain, according to defence spokesperson Wing Commander Ratnakar Singh.

The exercise is focused on training through various lectures and drills associated with counter-terrorist handling and firing with each others' weapons, battle obstacles course, special heliborne operations and case studies of various operations carried out in counter-terror environment, they officials said.

Two tactical exercises scheduled during the training are counter-terrorism scenario and Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations, a statement from the Indian Army said.