"Does not help..."China's Foreign Ministry on India-US military exercise near LAC

Beijing [China], November 30 : China on Wednesday said that the joint military exercise held by India and the US near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) violated the spirit of relevant agreements signed by China and India.
Speaking at a regular press conference, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said, "The joint military exercise held by India and the US near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) violated the spirit of relevant agreements signed by China and India in 1993 and 1996, and does not help build bilateral trust. China has expressed concerns to the Indian side over the military exercise."
In order to check Chinese aggression, India and US held the 18th edition of the joint military training exercise Yudh Abhyas in Auli, Uttarakhand, 100 km away from LAC.
"The 18th Edition of India-US joint training exercise #YudhAbhyas is scheduled to be conducted at #Auli. The joint exercise will focus on the employment of an Infantry Battalion Group in Peace Keeping & Disaster Relief operations under the #UN Mandate," tweeted the Additional Directorate General of Public Information, Indian Army.
It will help both countries to counter China by endorsing each other. The 15-day long exercise will focus on high altitude, extremely cold climate warfare.
Exercise Yudh Abhyas is conducted annually between India and USA with the aim of exchanging best practices, Tactics, Techniques and Procedures between the Armies of the two nations.
The previous edition of the exercise was conducted at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska (USA) in October 2021, read the Ministry of Defence press release.
Meanwhile, China seeks to prevent border tensions from causing India to partner more closely with the US, said a Pentagon report.
Throughout 2021, the PLA sustained the deployment of forces and continued infrastructure build-up along the LAC.
Moreover, negotiation made minimal progress as both sides resist losing perceived advantages on the border, added the Pentagon report.
Beginning in May 2020, PRC and Indian forces faced off in clashes with rocks, batons, and clubs wrapped in barbed wire at multiple locations along the LAC.
The PRC blamed the standoff on Indian infrastructure construction, which it perceived as encroaching on PRC territory, while India accused China of launching aggressive incursions into India's territory.
Since the 2020 clash, the PLA has maintained a continuous force presence and continued infrastructure build-up along the LAC, added the report.
The 2020 Galwan Valley incident was the deadliest clash between the two nations in the past 46 years. On June 15th, 2020, patrols violently clashed in Galwan Valley resulting in approximately twenty Indian soldiers and the death of four PLA soldiers, according to PRC officials.
Notably, the Western Theater Command is oriented toward India and counterterrorism missions along China's Central Asia borders.
The Western Theater Command is geographically the largest theater command within the PRC and is responsible for responding to conflict with India and terrorist threats in western China.
Within China, the Western Theater Command focuses on Xinjiang and Tibet Autonomous Regions, where the CCP perceives a high threat of separatism and terrorism, particularly among Uyghur populations in Xinjiang.
According to the US Department of State's 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, in the PRC, "genocide and crimes against humanity occurred during the year against the predominantly Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang."
Authorities were reported to have arbitrarily detained more than one million Uyghurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other Muslims in extrajudicial internment camps designed to erase religious and ethnic identities.
PRC government officials justified the camps under the pretence of "combatting terrorism, separatism, and extremism," however, greater criticism from the international community, including the United Nations, refute such justifications.
Moreover, ethnic oppression of Muslim Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minority groups in Xinjiang is likely used by extremist organizations as a propaganda and recruiting tool, generating new threats to the region.