G20 host India launches military drills near China border

NEW DELHI: India launched major military drills on Monday, including along contested border areas with China, which will continue during the G20 summit in New Delhi that President Xi Jinping will skip. The 11 days of drills named “Trishul,” or trident, were “an annual training exercise” in northern zones bordering Pakistan and China, a defense official told AFP, declining to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media. India has been wary of its northern neighbor’s growing military assertiveness and their 3,500-kilometre (2,200-mile) shared frontier has been a perennial source of friction. Tensions flared again last…