Brett Daniel Shehadey
Special Contributor for In Homeland Security
India and China are scheduled to participate in bilateral counter-terrorism exercises from November 4-14 at the company level. The “Hand-in-Hand” (HiH) exercises for ten days will be held in Chengdu, China. The decision was made in 2012 by Chinese Defense Minister Gen Liang Guanglie and Indian Defense Minister A K Antony. The air force and navy of the two states are also expected to hold exercises in addition to an officers exchange program.
The army exercises were a regular feature five years ago between the countries which have seen much strain of late. This takes place even after a rough patch of territorial disputes over the line of actual control (LAC) between Jammu and Kashmir and Aksai Chin.
The Indian participation in the Security Diamond with Japan and others may have been a motivator for renewed strategic ties and military cooperation. India is prized to become the major competitor to China and another Asian democratic alternative. Japan is taking a lead role in backing and brokering the partnership.
China does not want India moving eastward, but even if it does, it certainly does not want Japan moving west. What it needs is to segue into the relationship and they will need first steps through a better security cooperation platform more than India. The bullying on their Northern border, partnering with Pakistan and moving into Sri Lanka are all the proverbial stick dropping on New Delhi. The military relationship acts as a diplomatic carrot. But Japan and company have bigger carrots, in spite of a huge trade between India and China.
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