Indian, Chinese armies may take part in multilateral drills

Indian, Chinese armies may take part in multilateral drills

The Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army may be caught in a tense border standoff along the contested Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh, but both are likely to send troop contingents to Russia next month to take part in a multilateral exercise, people familiar with the development said on Tuesday. Talks between the two armies to reduce border tensions are stuck in a stalemate and the disengagement process in Ladakh has hit a roadblock. The Pakistan Army is also likely to take part in the exercise, Kavkaz-2020, said one of the officials cited above. Eighteen countries are expected to take part in the exercise, including the member-states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO). While it is not uncommon for the armies of India, China and Pakistan to be part of multi-nation exercises on neutral territories (they even deploy alongside in United Nations peace missions), the exercise planned next month appears to have become more newsy because of the ongoin…