Training in "realistic conditions" by thousands of Chinese troops before Sunday's massive military parade marking the 90th anniversary of the Chinese Army is "not related to neighbourhood situation", a military spokesman said.
The training of 12,000 troops participating in the parade was arranged in accordance with the armed forces' annual training plan, Xinhua news agency quoted Ren Guoqiang, spokesperson for China's Ministry of National Defence, as saying.
Ren did not elaborate on what he meant by "neighbourhood situation".
The Chinese and Indian armies have been engaged in a stand-off since June at Doklam region, which China claims to be its. India and Bhutan call it Bhutanese territory.
India said it entered Doklam in order to stop road construction by China. China has warned of dire consequences if India does not withdraw its troops from the region.
The spokesperson on Sunday said the troops taking part in the parade were fresh from military training so that they could show their battle spirit.
China held its first-ever Army Day parade at Zhurihe military training base in Mongolia region to commemorate the 90th birthday of the Army.
Over 600 pieces of armaments and 100 aircraft were displayed, nearly half of which were paraded for the first time, according to Ren.
He said the parade was a breakaway from the formalities of ceremonial parades.
--IANS
py/mr
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