“The exercise with China was somewhat linked to the annual defence dialogue (ADD) and hence postponed till the ADD. But now it is likely to take place in December,” Gen Kapoor said in his first formal interaction with the media after taking over as the Army chief here on Saturday. 

Initially planned to involve 60-70 soldiers from each side, the location for exercise will possibly be the mountainous Chengdu Military Region in China where soldiers from both the armies will engage in anti-terror operations.

Interaction between the two armies, which fought fiercely in the 1962 war, so far is restricted to enjoying only observer status at each other’s military exercises.

The process to improve the military relations between the two neighbours sharing 4,000 km boundary, began with former defence minister Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to China in May 2006 when a memorandum of understanding on military cooperation was inked between New Delhi and Beijing. Holding the ADD to review the progress in military cooperation and joint exercises were part of that MoU.

Both armies agreed to hold the first joint exercise on anti-terror manoeuvres during the then Army chief, Gen J J Singh’s visit to China in June 2007. Though the exercise was originally scheduled for October, it was delayed because of China’s insistence on discussing the details at the ADD meeting.