1 May 2005	Sunday	21 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426

NEW DELHI, April 30: India will display its military might to a Chinese delegation that would watch its new tanks in action through much of May but the proposed desert exercise will be held at a safe distance from Pakistan’s borders, thus not requiring Islamabad to be informed of it, official sources said on Saturday. Pakistan has already said that it would not be disturbed by the proposed armour exercise involving some 20,000 troops but left it vague whether it was expecting to be informed by India under their conventional defence-related confidence-building measures.

Now informed sources in New Delhi say that the distance from the border and the strength of the exercise did not make it mandatory for a prior advice to Islamabad.

The Tehelka weekly newspaper said the Chinese delegation at the exercise, a rare gesture by all accounts, was going to be part of the agreement between the two countries during the recent visit to New Delhi by Premier Wen Jiabao. “De-escalation of troops along the borders and exchange of military delegations have become a regular feature between India and China, “the newspaper reported, quoting top defence sources.

“As a first follow-up to this defence cooperation agreement, a high-level Chinese military delegation will watch an Operation Bras stacks-like display of the Indian armoured might this summer in the searing heat of Rajasthan desert,” Tehelka said.