'India Exercises With Whomever It Chooses To', Says MEA After China Objects To Indo-US Military Exercise In Uttarakhand

India has hit out at China for objecting to a joint military exercise conducted by Indian and United States Army in Uttarakhand's Auli.

China had earlier objected to the 18th edition of ‘Yudh Abhyas’, the India-US military exercise, and said the show of military strength taking place around 100 km from the India-China border in Uttarakhand violated the spirit of the border agreements of 1993 and 1996.

Responding to Chinese statement, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that the India-US military exercise in Auli has got nothing to do with the 1993 and 1996 Agreements.

"But since the Chinese side have mentioned about these agreements, let me emphasise that the Chinese side needs to reflect and think about its own breach of these agreements of 1993 and 1996," he said during a press briefing.

"India exercises with whomsoever it chooses to and it does not give a Veto to third countries on this issue," the MEA spokesperson added.

On the question of anti-lockdown protests in China, Bagchi said that he would not like to get into "specific COVID strategies" that each country may be pursuing.

"We would hope that humanity as a whole is able to emerge fully from COVID, out of this COVID pandemic at the earliest. But insofar as, you know, specific COVID strategies that each country may be pursuing, I would not like to get into that. I think I would just like to hope that we are able to come out of COVID," he said.