The Indian Armed Forces` biggest military exercise rechristened as Operation Poorna Vijay concluded on Friday. The operation was a test of Indian Army`s conventional capabilities in the backdrop of enemy nuclear potential. During the exercise, about 40,000 troops, 500 tanks and infantry combat vehicles and 120 warplanes crisscrossed length and breadth of the Thar desert in Rajasthan to test survival techniques in nuclear, biological and chemical battle scenarios.

The exercise also trained troops on undertaking deep armoured thrusts involving self-contained battle groups consisting of armoured divisions, mechanised formations and their mobile artillery components.

The four-phase exercise was carried out 60 km away from the Ganganagar international border, Bhatinda, Jalandhar, Gurdaspur and Pokhran firing range. Bureau Report