India-China ties victim of lack of mutual trust, say Chinese academics
plenty of chances to meet in the weeks ahead — at multilateral meets, including the G-20 summit in Turkey during November 15-16, the CHOGM in Malta later that month, an APEC KUNMING: Lack of mutual trust between Indian and Chinese governments has prevented the two militaries from expanding the scope of their ongoing counter-terrorism exercise, Hand-in-Hand (HiH), Chinese academics said.
For two of the largest militaries in the world, the lack of more regular exercise-like engagements could further fuel suspicion, they felt.
The 5th edition of the 10-day exercise will conclude on Thursday in Kunming at the training base for the Infantry Battalion of the 14 Group Army of the PLA, who are taking part in the drill. The 2nd Battalion of Indian Army’s NAGA Regiment flew in on October 11 to take part in the bilateral exercise for the first time. But the scope of the exercise, according to academics, leaves much to be desired.
“.. the interaction between the personnel is restricted mainly due to lack of trust because of cold-war mentality. To increase the interaction, first of all, there is a need to discard hostile attitudes towards the counterpart,” Wang Dehua, director at the Institute for South and Central Asia Studies in Shanghai told HT.
Privately, military officers say that discussions to include the air force and the navy in the engagement have remained at discussion stages. The long and disputed border between India and China might be mostly quiet but greater interactions and engagement between the two militaries were needed to tackle stand-offs, Wang said.
“Yes, progress has been made along the border to prevent stand-offs between the two militaries, but current mechanisms are not adequate,” Wang added.
A statement from India’s ministry of defence said on Wednesday: “High level of synergy was visible between contingents.”
Clearly, many think that it is time that the simulated synergy, even if gradually, is converted to real camaraderie between the two militaries.