As contingents from the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army join the Victory Day Parade in Moscow, the soldiers from both sides reportedly took boat rides and sight-seeing trips together, notwithstanding occasional border skirmishes.
Russia is observing the 70th anniversary of Nazi Germany's defeat in World War II, and contingents from ten nations are joining the the parade at Red Square in Moscow, said to be the largest since the Soviet era.
A 75-member contingent from the Indian Army's Grenadiers Regiment led by Captain Vikash Singh Suhag is marching in the parade along with a contingent from the People's Liberation Army of China, which will probably be the first such occasion in history.
"Our team is attracting attention as we are tall, most of them around 6 feet, the colourful safa the soldiers wear and the unique uniform," Colonel Digvijay Singh, the chief coordinator of the Indian Army contingent, told the Press Trust of India.
An army official told PTI that even though border tensions between the Indian and Chinese armies occasionally flare up, the Indian and Chinese soldiers were getting along well, and had also taken boat rides and visited the Moscow Circus together.
"We are also playing games like volley ball, basket ball, tennis together with other soldiers," said Captain D P Singh.
"It is an honour for us to get the opportunity to participate in the victory day parade in Russia as India is the only among the ten countries which are part of it," Suhag told PTI.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is in Moscow to attend the parade. Indian President Pranab Mukherjee, who is also in Russia, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday.
President Vladimir V Putin of the Russian Federation received #PresidentMukherjee at Kremlin today pic.twitter.com/uaPUYuclYz
— President of India (@RashtrapatiBhvn) May 9, 2015
Russia is set to show off its new hi-tech military tanks and equipment that it has developed in its 20 trillion ruble ($395 billion) 10-year rearmament campaign, The Moscow Times reported.
The Indian Army marching contingent in Moscow! pic.twitter.com/o0Iy52D2cB
— Rajat Pandit (@originalpandit) May 9, 2015