‘Yudh Abhyas’ Military Exercise to Begin on Feb 8

As per a defence spokesperson, Indo-U.S. joint military exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas’ will be held between February 8 and 21 in Rajasthan. It will be the 16th edition of the exercise.

Key Points

• Yudh Abhyas will be held near the India-Pakistan border in Rajasthan.
• The exercise aims to enhance the interoperability and cooperation between the Indian and the US armies.
• The exercise will focus on counter-terrorism operations under the United Nations mandate.
• The US Army troops will arrive in India on February 5 to participate in the exercise from February 8.
• The bilateral training exercise will be held at the Foreign Training Node at Mahajan Field Firing Ranges.
• The US side will be represented by the troops of the 2nd battalion, 3rd Infantry Regiment of 1-2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team along with respective brigade headquarters in the exercise.
• From the Indian side, the 11th Battalion of Jammu and Kashmir Rifles will participate in the exercise. The battalion is a part of the South Western Command.
• Before this, India and France held a five-day joint air force exercise in Rajasthan in the month of January.

Yudh Abhyas

It is a bilateral military exercise between India and the US. It was started in the year 2002 and is hosted by India and the US alternatively. The last edition of the exercise was held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington in the year 2019.