NEW DELHI: India and the US have kicked off their ‘Yudh Abhyas’ military exercise in the snow-clad mountains of Alaska, with over 300 soldiers from each side taking part in combat manoeuvres.
The 17th edition of Yudh Abhyas, which is the longest-running joint military training and defence cooperation endeavour between the two armies, is being held at the Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson in Alaska. Around 350 Indian soldiers from the 7 Madras infantry regiment and 300 American troops from the First Squadron (Airborne) of the 40th Cavalry Regiment are taking part in the 14-day exercise.
Commander US Army (Alaska) Major General Brian Eifler, during the opening ceremony, asked both contingents to focus on “improving cohesion and interoperability” to achieve training objectives of the exercise.
An Indian officer, in turn, said, “We have quite a bit of experience in high-altitude operations. We would like to share our experiences with them. We would like to imbibe lessons from the technological prowess of the US Army.”
The joint exercise will facilitate both armies to know each other better, share their wide-ranging tactical experiences and enhance their situational awareness through information exchange.
“This will help them in undertaking joint operations at the battalion level in mountainous terrain with cold climatic conditions,” the officer added.