India, US joint special forces exercise begins in Himachal's Bakloh

Tags: Defence

The thirteenth Edition of the Indo-US Joint Special Forces exercise “Ex Vajra Prahar 2022” started at the Special Forces Training School at Bakloh of Himachal Pradesh on 8 August.

Important facts

• The Vajra Prahar series of joint exercises aims to share best practices and experiences in areas like- joint mission planning and operational strategy and it will improve inter-operability between the special forces of the two nations.

• This annual exercise is conducted alternately between India and the United States.

• The 12th edition was held in October 2021 at Joint Base Lewis McCord, Washington, USA.

• The US contingent is represented by personnel from the Special Forces Group (SFG) and the US Special Forces Special Tactics Squadron (STS).

• India is represented by the Indian Army contingent of Special Forces personnel under the aegis of SFTS.

Significance of the Joint Exercise 

• This is an important step towards strengthening the traditional bond of friendship between the special forces of the two countries.

• It will improve bilateral defence cooperation between India and the US.

• During the next 21 days, teams of both the armies will jointly train, plan and execute a series of special operations, counter terrorist operations, aerial operations in mountainous terrain.

India - US Defence Cooperation

• India-US defence ties have been getting stronger over the past few years.

• In June 2016, the US designated India as a "major defence partner".

• The two countries have signed major defence and security agreements including the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) over the years.

• In 2018, COMCASA (Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement) was signed between India and US.

• This allows for interoperability between the two armies and paves the way for the sale of high-end technology from the US to India.

• In the year 2020, BECA (Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement) was signed to further boost bilateral defence ties.

• It provides for sharing of high-end military technology, logistics and geospatial maps between India and US.

Other Exercises of India with the USA

• VAJRA PRAHAR (Army)

• Cope India (Air Force)

• Red Flag (USA’s multilateral air exercise)

• Malabar Exercise (trilateral naval exercise of three countries India, USA and Japan)

Kindly see 4 August post also