Current Affairs - Defence - Discussion

The second edition of the 10-day Nepal-China joint military exercise "Sagarmatha Friendship-2018" will be held at Chengdu, the capital of China's southwestern Sichuan Province, from September 17. The aim of the exercise is to share expertise in disaster management and to fight terrorism, among others. This will reduce Nepal's dependence on India and allow China to get a firmer foothold in the sub-continental drama. This comes at a time when Nepal refuses to participate in the first-ever BIMSTEC military exercise "MILEX-18", which has started in India from September 10.