Participating troops enter the training field during an opening ceremony of the eighth India-China Joint Counter-terrorism Exercise codenamed "Hand-in-Hand 2019" at Umroi Cantonment in the Meghalaya state of India on Dec. 7, 2019. The exercise is jointly launched by Indian and Chinese militaries. Each military has dispatched 130 service members to take part in the 16-day exercise and the Chinese participating troops are from the PLA Xizang Military Command. In the context of joint efforts to combat terrorist organizations by China and India in a semi-urban terrain, the exercise is divided into three phases, namely, adaptive training, mixed training and comprehensive exercise. Participating troops from both sides will be mixed into two groups to live and train together and exchange on skills, tactics, training methods and command procedures. This year's exercise is the eighth of the series between China and India since 2007, aiming to further deepen military exchange and cooperation between the two sides.