Hailing the ongoing first-ever Sino-Indian joint military exercise as a “landmark development” in bilateral relations, the state-run Chinese media on Saturday said it shows that the two armies trust each other more than in the past.

    “China and India are looking after their fences, turning the Himalayas, the highest mountains on earth, into a friendly border,” China Daily said in its editorial on the joint exercise. Although the relations between the two countries had witnessed twists and turns, “they move ahead”, the paper said. “Their relationship is at its most cordial of any time during the past few years.”

The unprecedented training programme was an important part of the confidence-building measures the two countries had taken, the editorial said. The engagement between India and China has been deepening and both had agreed to strengthen military confidence building measures, exchange young officers to take part in a series of training programmes and explore the possibility of joint training, it said. “The ongoing joint training in Kunming is a landmark development in bilateral relations,” it said.