BEIJING, Aug 26: China and India will hold their armies' first joint mountaineering exercise in Tibet this week, state media said on Thursday.

The training, the first of its kind between the two armies, will be conducted on Saturday in Tibet's Burang county which borders India, the Xinhua news agency said, citing defence ministry sources.

The exercise is aimed at enhancing mutual understanding and trust and promoting stability in the border area, Xinhua said. The Asian neighbours held their first joint naval exercise last November and are scheduled to hold the next round of talks on a border dispute in September.

The world's two most populous countries fought a brief but bitter border war in 1962 and have never demarcated an official border. -AFP