Chengdu, China. The opening ceremony for the 7th Sino-India joint exercise Hand-in-Hand 2018 scheduled from December 10 to 23 was held at Chengdu, China on December 11.

Company size contingents of 11 SIKHLI from Indian Army and a regiment from Tibetan Military District of People’s Liberation Army participated in the exercise.

The Indian contingent was led by Col Puneet Pratap Singh Tomar, Commanding Officer, 11 SIKHLI, while the Chinese contingent was led by Col Zhou Jun. Major General Kuang Dewang, senior representative of joint training from PLA, reviewed the parade in presence of a number of officials from both the nations.

The exercise would consist of a balance of indoor classes and outdoor training activities. The aim of the exercise is to build and promote close relations between armies of both the countries and to enhance ability of the joint exercise commander to take military contingents of both nations under command.

The exercise will involve tactical level operations in an international counter insurgency/ counter terrorism environment under UN mandate.