Training will take place in October.
The United States will participate in joint military exercises with India is less than a hundred kilometers from the disputed border between India and China, reports CNN.
Military exercises will take place in mid-October in the mountainous region of Auli in the Indian state of Uttarakhand and will focus on training of high-altitude warfare, according to a senior Indian Army officer. Auli is about 95 kilometers from the disputed border between India and China. This will be the 18th annual joint exercise known as 'Yudh Abhyas' or 'Military Practice'.
Relations between India and China have been strained since a bloody clash between their soldiers in the Himalayas in June 2020, which left at least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers dead.
Tensions have recently escalated over China's construction of a bridge across the Pangong Tso Lake. , which runs along the border. This move was condemned by the Indian government as an “illegal occupation”.
During a visit to India this year, the commander of the US Pacific Army, General Charles Flynn, called China's military build-up along the disputed border “alarming”.
When asked about the joint exercises, a US Defense Department spokesman told CNN that the partnership with India is “one of the most important elements of the common vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific region”.
“One important element of this broader effort is training, and Yudh Abhyas is one such annual bilateral exercise aimed at improving interoperability and our respective capabilities to address a range of regional security challenges,” the spokesman said.
< strong>Line of Actual Control
The Line of Actual Control, the loosely defined border between India and China, arose out of the Sino-Indian border war of 1962, which was caused by long-standing historical territorial disputes. Disputes still rage between China and India about where one country ends and the other begins.
Any military provocations between the two countries could have serious consequences, as they both have nuclear weapons.
Tensions on the border between China and India escalated after the countries' soldiers clashed in a bloody fight that resulted in In June 2020, at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the Galwan Valley, near Aksai Chin, an area controlled by China but claimed by both countries.
Although tensions have since eased, both sides maintain a large military presence in the border region, raising the risk of potential miscalculation in the event of sudden and unexpected clashes.
Also read: China announces suspension of cooperation with US in several areas over Pelosi's visit to Taiwan
Earlier it was reported that the US accused China of provocations in the Taiwan Strait.
China's military command did not respond to numerous calls from its American colleagues, amid heightened tensions over House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan.
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