On the sidelines of the exercise, troops will participate in friendly sports like tug-of-war, volleyball and basketball. Troops from the JAKLI have also prepared a cultural programme for their Chinese counterparts and will perform bhangra.

The joint exercise, seen as the first step towards greater military-military interaction between the countries, will be followed by a similar drill in India next year. In addition, the IAF is also keen on testing their skills against Chinese pilots.

Indo-China relations are on an upswing with an increasing number of high profile visits between the countries. While UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi visited Beijing in October, preparations are currently on for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s China visit from January 13-16.

Meanwhile, ahead of the PM’s visit, another round of strategic dialogues between the two countries are expected to kick off later this week. Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon will travel to Beijing later this week for a round of talks with Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of China Wu Dawei.