Indo-British army exercises in Ladakh a legitimate activity: Antony

Brushing off the reservations expressed by Pakistan over the Indo-British joint army exercises in Ladakh beginning tomorrow, Defence Minister A K Antony today said it is a legitimate activity, and none of Indias moves or actions is to provoke anybody.

New Delhi, Sept 26 : Brushing off the reservations expressed by Pakistan over the Indo-British joint army exercises in Ladakh beginning tomorrow, Defence Minister A K Antony today said it is a "legitimate" activity, and none of India's "moves or actions is to provoke anybody."

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an army function here, Antony said that such military interaction has been going on for number of years, and "even in Ladakh, we have held joint exercises with other nations."

"We are exercising with forces of a country, which is friendly to Pakistan," he said, adding that the current exercises with British forces are being held 100 kms northwest of Leh and had been planned long time before.

Indian and British forces will start 25 days of joint manoeuvres in the Ladakh Himalayas from tomorrow to fine tune tactics on commando style hit and run raids against terrorist mountain hideouts.

Earlier, Pakistan had also raised objections against a military-civilian trekking expedition to the Siachen Glacier, which began today.

The 43-member team includes civilians, men from the army, journalists and students from several military training schools.

It would take some 20 days for the trekkers to make the trip to the 6,300-metre (20,800-feet) high Siachen Glacier, a battlefield occupied by Indian and Pakistani troops since 1984.

Pakistan and India launched a peace process in 2004 and the guns on the glacier have largely fallen silent, but Siachen remains a bone of contention in negotiations.

Pakistan foreign ministry spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said India's Deputy High Commissioner had been summoned to receive a "strong protest" over the trek plan.

Experts say India has around 5,000 troops on the glacier, while Pakistan has less than half that number. Harsh weather and the high altitude claims many more lives than actual fighting over Siachen.

Britain's Royal Marines last week kicked off 25 days of joint high-altitude exercises with the Indian army in Ladakh.

ANI