Yudh Abhyas 2018: Indo-US joint military exercise from September 16 in Uttarakhand

NEW DELHI: As part of the ongoing Indo-US defence cooperation, a joint military training Exercise – Yudh Abhyas 2018 – will be held from September 16 to 29 at Chaubattia in Uttarakhand's Almora district.

Yudh Abhyas is one of the longest running joint military training exercises and a major bilateral defence cooperation endeavour between India and the US, said the Ministry of Defence. This will be the 14th edition of the joint military exercise hosted alternately by both countries.

“The joint exercise Yudh Abhyas 2018 will simulate a scenario where both nations will work together in counter insurgency and counter terrorism environment in mountainous terrain under United Nation charter,” said the Defence Ministry.

A two-week exercise, Yudh Abhyas will witness participation of about nearly 700 personnel of US and Indian Armies. 

“The exercise curriculum is progressively planned where the participants are initially made to get familiar with each other’s organizational structure, weapons, equipment, confidence training and tactical drills. Subsequently, the training advances to joint tactical exercises wherein the battle drills of both the armies are coherently unleashed. The training will culminate with a final validation exercise in which troops of both countries will jointly carry out an operation against terrorists in a fictitious but realistic setting,” said the ministry.

This year, the joint military drill will witness a Division Headquarter based Command Post Exercise, an Infantry Battalion carrying out Field Training Exercise and discussions on issues of mutual interest by experts of both countries.