The Chinese formation of ships made up of the "Shenzhen" missile destroyer and the "Weishanhu" supply ship joined the Indian naval ships at 12:00 a.m. on Dec. 1 in the northern waters of the Indian Ocean for a joint search-and-rescue exercise coded "Sino-Indian Friendship 2005" in a non-traditional security field.

　　The scenario of the exercise was: According to the notice of the UN's Maritime Organization, a commercial ship of a country has caught fire and was asking for help. Upon receiving this request, the Chinese formation of ships that was on its way of visiting the other countries and the "Gomati" missile frigate and the "Sarda" offshore patrolling ship of the Indian Navy set off promptly from their respective sea areas and joined each other to search for and rescue the on-fire commercial ship. As soon as the order from the commanders of the formations of ships from the two countries was given for a joint search-and-rescue, the warships of both countries immediately started the humanitarian rescue operation. During the drill, the naval ships of the two countries drilled on such subjects as signal communication, joining forces in maneuver, maritime and air search operation, formation supply, and rescuing damaged ships jointly.

　　It was the second time for the Chinese Navy to carry out exercise with its Indian counterpart in a non-traditional security field. On Nov. 14, 2003, the Chinese naval ships and the visiting Indian naval ships held their first joint search-and-rescue exercise off the East China Sea coast.

　　By Wang Shibin and Zhong Kuirun

　　(Dec 2, PLA Daily)