Arunachal exercise routine, says Army

On military exercises in AP, the Army said formations undertake acclimatisation during months preceding winters and post the winters

With dates for the second informal summit between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Narendra Modi yet to be officially announced amid mounting speculation, the Indian Army sources on Saturday termed the ongoing military exercises in Arunachal Pradesh as “routine” and “part of the acclimatisation process for the high-altitude”. As reported earlier by this newspaper, the Chinese side is upset by the Indian military exercises which are being held ahead of the proposed summit. The deliberations between the two leaders are expected to be held at Mahabalipuram near Chennai on October 11-12, even as the ministry of external affairs remained tight-lipped over the matter. Meanwhile, following the first informal Summit at Wuhan in China between the two leaders held last year, the number of transgressions across the LAC by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have come down, sources said.

On the ongoing military exercises in Arunachal Pradesh, the Army sources said “formations undertake familiarisation and acclimatisation during the months preceding winters and post the winters,” adding that “similar training exercise for all formations of Eastern Command have been undertaken.” The Army sources added, “As the 17 Corps is a new raising, not yet fully formed, its troops conduct familiarisation and orientation drills in depth areas which are generally in the high altitude as a matter of routine. Troops carry out acclimatisation process to train for high attitude regularly”. India had traditionally always adopted a defensive approach against China following the debacle in the 1962 war but a few years ago, it was decided that a mountain strike corps (the 17 Corps) be formed that would for the first time give the country a potential offensive capability vis-à-vis China. The timing of the exercise has now irked China.

India too is upset with China following Beijing’s open backing of Pakistan on the Kashmir issue.