NEW DELHI – India and the US are likely to hold their first tri-servicesmilitary drill later this year and talks to finalise the modalities of theexercise are on, a senior Defence Ministry official has said.
The three wings of the armed forces of India and the US hold separatemilitary exercises, but this will be the first time that the two countrieswill have a joint drill of their Army, Air Force and the Navy.
The topic is likely to come up for discussion in September during the 2plus 2 Dialogue involving External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj andDefence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on one side and US Secretary of StateMike Pompeo and Defence Secretary James Mattis on the other.ADVERTISEMENT
Sitharaman and Mattis, during his visit to India last year, had deliberatedon exploring additional specialised military drills between the twocountries. This will be second such international military drill involvingall the three services.
Last year, an Indian contingent comprising 350 personnel from Army, 80 fromAir Force, two IL 76 aircraft and one Frigate and Corvette each from theNavy participated in a bilateral exercise, ‘Indra 2017’, with the Russianforces in Eastern Military District of Russia.
The armies of India and the US also participated in Exercise Yudh Abhyas –2017 at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington, while the navies of India andthe US had last month participated in Malabar 2018, a trilateral exerciseinvolving Japan