In an effort to further strengthen bilateral Defence ties, India and US on Tuesday commenced nearly two-week long joint army training exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas 22’ in Uttrakhand.
It is the 18th edition of annual drill and the aim is to exchange best practices, tactics, techniques and procedures between the two armies. The previous edition of the exercise was conducted at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska (USA) in October 2021.
For the upcoming exercise, US Army soldiers of 2nd Brigade of the 11th Airborne Division and Indian Army soldiers from the Assam Regiment will be participate, officials said here on Tuesday.
The training schedule focuses on employment of an integrated battle group under Chapter VII of the United Nations(UN) Mandate. The schedule will include all operations related to peace keeping and peace enforcement.
The troops from both nations will work together to achieve common objectives.
The joint exercise will also focus on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. Troops from both nations will practice launching of swift and coordinated relief efforts in the wake of any natural calamity.
In order to derive full benefit from the professional skills and experiences of both the armies, a Command Post Exercise and Expert Academic Discussions (EAD) on carefully selected topics will be carried out.
The scope of the Field Training Exercise includes validation of integrated battle groups, force multipliers, establishment and functioning of surveillance grids, validation of operational logistics, mountain warfare skills, casualty evacuation and combat medical aid in adverse terrain and climatic conditions.
The exercise will involve exchanges and practices on a wide spectrum of combat skills including combat engineering, employment of Unmanned aircraft systems(UAS) and counter UAS techniques and information operations.The exercise will facilitate both Armies to share their wide experiences, skills and enhance their techniques through information exchange.
The Indo-US defence ties have been on an upswing in the last few years. In June 2016, the US designated India a "Major Defence Partner" paving way for sharing of critical military equipment and technology.
The two countries also inked key defence and security pacts over the past few years, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016 and COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) in 2018.
In October 2020, India and the US sealed the BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) agreement to further boost bilateral defence ties.
