Indian and American troops take part in joint yoga session as part of Exercise Yudh Abhyas

At Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson in Anchorage, Alaska, Indian and US troops participated in a joint yoga session. The troops were taught a total of 17 asanas, including the Surya Namaskar, by Indian yoga instructors. This comes as the 17th India-US joint training exercise as "Ex Yudh Abhyas 21" gets underway. The 14-day exercise includes combined training for operations under UN mandate.

According to the Defence Ministry, the drill will involve 300 US Army soldiers from the 40th Cavalry Regiment's First Squadron and 350 Indian Army personnel from the 7 Madras Infantry Battalion Group. The 14-day training plan includes combined training in a counter-terrorism context.

It started on October 15 with an opening ceremony that included the unfurling of both countries' national flags while the Indian national anthem and the US national anthem were played.

The drill aims to increase the forces' situational awareness

The Indian Ministry of Defence (MoD) said in a statement that the drill will increase situational awareness of both forces. It further said that this will help them conduct joint operations at the Battalion level in hilly terrain with cold climatic conditions.

Both countries are hosting the 17th iteration of the exercise alternately. Earlier, the exercise was held in February of this year at Mahajan Field Firing Range in Bikaner, Rajasthan, India. Since 2004, Exercise Yudh Abhyas has facilitated cooperation between the two countries through training, cultural exchanges and the development of combined operational skills.

Defence ties between India and the United States have been improving in recent years. The US named India as a major defence partner in June 2016. Over the last few years, the two countries have also signed important defence and security agreements, including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016, which allows their militaries to use each other's bases for supply repair and replenishment, while also providing room for deeper cooperation.

The two countries also signed COMCASA in 2018

In 2018, the two countries also signed the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA), which allows for interoperability between their forces and the transfer of high-end technology from the United States to India. The Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement (BECA) between India and the US was signed in October last year to strengthen bilateral defence ties. The agreement allows the two countries to exchange high-tech military equipment, logistics and geospatial maps.

(Inputs from ANI/ PTI)

Image: ANI