New Delhi: The Indian Navy is closely watching the activities of the Chinese PLA Navy in the Indian Ocean, including movement of Chinese submarines to Sri Lankan ports, even as the Indian Army is getting ready to commence joint military exercises with China.
On Thursday, Naval Chief Admiral R.K. Dhowan said: “As far as the Chinese deployment is concerned, this is part of their programme for the anti-piracy escort force which has been operating in the Indian Ocean since 2008 and (as) part of that they regularly deploy ships and occasionally we have seen the presence of submarines both conventional as well as nuclear.
As part of that operation, they have been in Sri Lanka in the port and this is an area we are monitoring very closely as part of the operations of the Chinese PLA Navy in the Indian Ocean.”
Meanwhile, in a statement, the Army said: “In continuation of the series of joint exercises between India and China, the ‘Hand-in-Hand 2014’ exercise is all set to commence shortly at Aundh Camp, Pune on November 16.
This will be the fourth joint training exercise by the Indian Army with People’s Liberation Army of China. While the second edition of the exercise was held at Belgaum in 2008, it has been conducted twice in China in 2007 and 2013.”
The Army further said: “The aim of the joint training is to share the drills and practices learnt while tackling insurgency and terrorism, thereby promoting healthy military to military relations between the two Armies and developing joint strategies of conducting operations in a counter terrorism environment.
