According to sources, a planning team was to visit New Delhi last month to finalise the exercise. However, China abruptly called off the visit, saying the matter would be discussed at the Annual Defence Dialogue (ADD) between the two countries.

A Defence Ministry team, headed by a Joint Secretary, is scheduled to visit Beijing later this month for the first ADD under a newly signed defence cooperation agreement. This team will try and work out details for the joint anti-terror drill.

“A team is going to Beijing at the end of this month for the first meeting. Among other things, the timing for the exercise will be discussed,” said a Defence Ministry official.

Earlier, Defence Minister A K Antony had come on record to say the countries would hold the war game in early November this year. The exercise, which was to be themed on an anti-terror scenario in a mountainous region, was finalised during former Army Chief J J Singh’s Beijing visit in May.

“A team from China was scheduled to visit Delhi and work out details for the exercise in November. However, we were surprised when they pulled out at the last moment,” said an official.

While the exercise will be a level affair, involving 60 to 70 soldiers from each side, it is designed to pave way for larger interactions in the future. Military planners had earlier shortlisted the mountainous Chengdu Military region as a possible venue for the joint manoeuvres.

Interaction between armies of both the countries till now has been limited to observer status, but several small scale bilateral naval exercises have taken place between the countries since 2003. China holds regular large scale anti-terrorism exercises with Pakistan in the Xinjiang province.