India-China military bonhomie at Kunming resplendent with Bollywood touch

If anyone thought that the first ever joint counter terror exercise carried out by Indian and Chinese militaries in Kunming in Chinas Yunnan province would be an out and out serious affair, then one is grossly mistaken as it had a lot to do with cultural extravaganza and friendly bonhomie also.

By Sudhakar Jagdish

New Delhi, Dec 26 : If anyone thought that the first ever joint counter terror exercise carried out by Indian and Chinese militaries in Kunming in China's Yunnan province would be an out and out serious affair, then one is grossly mistaken as it had a lot to do with cultural extravaganza and friendly bonhomie also.

So you had beautiful Chinese women swinging to songs from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's flick, Devdas, and Chinese military personnel dancing on the rhapsody steps of Bhangra.

As the five-day long military exercise between the two armies concluded on the Christmas day, the kind of jovial mood witnessed there could hardly give any one an inkling that these two countries fought each other almost half a century ago, and are still negotiating the controversial border dispute issue.

The chill in the weather was nowhere to be seen as women clad in bright red and gold ghagras and cholis swayed to the tune of 'Dola Re' trying to imitate histrionics of dancing diva Madhuri Dixit and beauty queen Aishwarya Rai, and they even succeeded to.

Bollywood may be a cliché, but it's a successful recipe that makes even Chinese dancers go gaga over it.

The dance numbers encapsulating Indian culture was on the cards but the Indian soldiers had no clue that it would be so warm and vibrant in Kunming, where the minimum temperature dipped to five degree Celsius.

During the day, when soldiers demonstrated their tactical skills of overcoming the hostage crisis, the evening was reserved for interaction and some 'celebration'.

Not only Bollywood dance beats, the Indian rum, Old Monk also made inroads into Chinese military's palate.

ANI