India and China for the first time conducted military exercises in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in Eastern Ladakh on Wednesday amidst the growing uneasiness in the bilateral relationship.

The exercise comes in the backdrop of stalemate over India's multilateral disagreements with China over blacklisting of terrorists at the United Nations and membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

In 2010, China had refused to issue a visa to the Northern Army Commander Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal as part of a high-level exchange saying he “controlled” a disputed area. This is the second joint tactical exercise under the “China-India Cooperation 2016” and was held in the Chushul area, where the two countries fought a brief but intense war in 1962.

The first exercise was held on the Chinese side in February in the area of Border Personnel Meeting Hut at Chushul Garrison of Eastern Ladakh, along with Chinese troops of Moldo Garrison.

The Army in a statement said that this is part of the ongoing initiative to enhance interaction and cooperation between India and China, under the provisions of Border Defence Cooperation Agreement 2013.

Disaster relief drill

During the day-long exercise on Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) a fictitious situation of earthquake striking an Indian border village was painted. “Thereafter joint teams carried out rescue operations, evacuation and rendering of medical assistance,” the statement said.

The Indian Team for the exercise was led by Brigadier R.S. Raman and that of the Chinese was led by Senior Colonel Fan Jun. The joint exercise, complements the Hand-in-Hand series of the India-China joint exercises, and the earlier HADR exercise in Sikkim as well as the effort of both the nations to enhance cooperation and maintain peace and tranquillity along the border areas.