The high-altitude warfare-focused joint exercises with India are expected to take place at a time when tensions between Washington and Beijing are at an all-time high.
Less than 100 kilometers from India’s contentious border with China, the American and Indian forces will conduct joint training operations in the Himalayan highlands in October, according to CNN. The announcement of the location came when tensions between the US and China over Taiwan were at an all-time high and there had been fighting between China and India along their Himalayan border.
An Indian army commander told CNN on Saturday that the exercises will take place in mid-October close to the town of Auli in the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The drills at Auli, which is located on the southern slopes of the Himalayas, will concentrate on fighting at a height of 10,000 feet (3,000 meters).
In addition, Auli is located around 95 kilometers (59 miles) from the Line of Actual Control, the ill-defined line between India and China. Since the end of the 1962 Sino-Indian War, this line has been the de facto boundary between the two nations, despite the fact that both sides claim land on the opposite side.
After China protested India’s construction of a road in its claimed region in 2020, fighting broke out along this border. China claimed to have lost four soldiers, whilst India claimed to have lost over 20.
Since then, tensions have been high along the border, with India accusing China in May of erecting a bridge in an area it believes to be under “illegal occupation.”
Following Nancy Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan this week, relations between the US and China have also drastically worsened. Beijing launched significant military exercises in response to the visit, reduced imports from Taiwan, imposed sanctions on Pelosi and her family, and severed diplomatic contacts with Washington in a number of crucial sectors.
China asserts sovereignty over the island, despite Taiwan’s self-government since 1949. Under the One-China policy, the US recognizes this sovereignty, but Beijing viewed Pelosi’s travel as “a significant infringement” of this policy given her position as the most senior US politician and a member of the same political party as President Joe Biden.
White House national security adviser John Kirby said on Thursday that the US would conduct “air and maritime transits” through the Taiwan Strait in the coming weeks while the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group will remain stationed in the area, despite China’s military exercises continuing into the weekend.
Politico reported on Friday that Chinese defense officials are not returning calls from their American colleagues as both countries exercise their military strength.
The drills will feature air force units from both the US and India and serve as a “counterweight” and “deterrent” to China’s actions near the disputed boundary, General Charles Flynn, the commander of the US Army Pacific, told reporters in June. The upcoming Himalayan exercises are a part of a yearly US-India exercise that was carried out in Alaska last year.
the source used in the preparation of the news: https://www.rt.com
