Elite Special Forces from India & US kick off combat exercise in Himachal | India News

NEW DELHI: India and the US on Monday kicked off the `Vajra Prahar’ combat exercise between their elite Special Forces in Himachal Pradesh to further build military interoperability between the two countries.
The exercise, at the Special Forces Training School in Bakloh from August 8 to 28, will see the two contingents jointly train, plan and execute a series of special operations, counter-terrorism drills and airborne operations in simulated conventional and unconventional scenarios in mountainous terrain.
The US has deployed personnel from the 1st Special Forces Group (SFG) and Special Tactics Squadron (STS), while the Indian Army contingent is from a Para-SF battalion for the 21-day exercise.
“This is the 13th edition of the Vajra Prahar exercise, which aims to share best practices and experiences in areas such as joint mission planning and operational tactics as well as improve the interoperability between the two Special Forces. The 12th edition was conducted at Joint Base Lewis Mcchord in the US in October last year,” an Army officer said.
As earlier reported by TOI, the Vajra Prahar exercise comes ahead of a major high-altitude Indo-US exercise named `Yudh Abhyas’ to be held in India after being conducted in Alaska last year. The Yudh Abhyas exercise this time will be held at Auli in Uttarakhand, barely 100 km from the Line of Actual Control with China, from October 14 to 31.
The exercises are being held in the backdrop of the continuing military confrontation between India and China in eastern Ladakh, which erupted after the People’s Liberation Army made multiple incursions into Indian territory in April-May 2020.
India conducts several military exercises with the US every year, ranging from the top-notch `Malabar’ naval exercise, which includes the other `Quad’ countries of Japan and Australia, to the bilateral `Yudh Abhyas’ and ‘Vajra Prahar’ between their armies.
As part of the expansive bilateral defence partnership, the US has also bagged lucrative Indian defence deals worth over $21 billion just since 2007. The two countries have also inked four “foundational military pacts”, with the Basic Exchange and Cooperation Agreement for Geospatial Cooperation (BECA) being the last to be concluded in 2020.
India had earlier inked the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA) with the US in 2002, which was followed by the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) in 2016, and then the Communications, Compatibility and Security Arrangement (COMCASA) in 2018.