India has sent a 10 member Indian Army delegation to Beijing to decide the exact theme and level participation for the first-ever Sino-Indian military combat exercise to be conducted in India to jointly counter terror and insurgency. The two week long exercise is likely to commence from the second week of December. Exact dates will be finalized after all the modalities are discussed with the visiting Indian delegation. Last month, a 13-member delegation from China had come to New Delhi to attend the initial planning conference.

The hilly training area at Belgaum in Karnataka is likely to be the place where the joint exercise would be held. The first ever Sino-Indian exercise on Indian soil is an indication of the concerns of both nations in tackling terrorist violence in the region. The Indian Air Force will also participate in the exercise by providing air assets to conduct special heli-borne manoeuvres and assault operations.

The developments in the military ties between the two nations have been intensified since December 2007, which led to the first-ever joint counter-terrorism exercise at Kunming. Earlier, in May 2006, India and China had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) during a visit by the then Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee that stipulated that the two countries would hold joint military exercises, and join forces in counter-terrorism operations.