Indian Army helped Japanese Army hone counter-terrorism skills for Tokyo Olympics

Amid growing military ties between the two countries, the Indian Army extended help to the Japanese Army to hone its skills in counter-terrorist operations to tackle such possible situations during the Tokyo Olympics scheduled to be held next year.

The Indian Army and Japanese Army had held their exercise 'Dharma Guardian-2' in Vairangate of Mizoram and Silchar of Assam in October this year.

"We helped them to learn from our vast experience in counter-terrorist operations to deal with similar situations if any such thing happens during the Tokyo summer Olympics to be held from July 24 next year," senior Army sources said here.

Last week, India and Japan had held a two plus two dialogue, where the defence and foreign ministers of the two countries had participated.

More importantly, the Indian Army Chief General Bipin Rawat is also in Japan to take the bilateral military ties further ahead.

As part of counter-terrorist drills during the exercise in Silchar, contingents of Indian and Japanese armies together carried out stadium clearance drills in the face of a situation where a sports stadium has been attacked.

The annual military exercise between the two armies commenced on October 19 at Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS) Vairengte, Mizoram.

The Japanese contingent was represented by 34th Infantry Regiment, 1st Division of Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces (JGSDF), while the Indian side was represented by a battalion of the Dogra Regiment. 25 soldiers from each battalion participated in the joint exercise.

As part of the exercise, important lectures, demonstrations and drills related to counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations were conducted. Both the armies also shared their valuable experiences in countering such situations as also refined drills and procedures for joint operations.