Yudh Abhyas 2018 begins in Almora

A joint military training exercise between the Indian and US armies began Sunday at Chaubattia in the foothills of the Himalayas in Uttarakhand's Almora district.

Yudh Abhyas 2018 is one of the longest running joint military training exercises and a major bilateral defence cooperation endeavour between India and the US.

This is the 14th edition of the joint military exercise, which is hosted alternately by the two countries.

Set to conclude on September 29, the combined exercise simulates scenarios where both nations are working together in counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations in mountainous terrain, a defence press release said.

The two week exercise will see the participation of about 350 personnel of the US Army and similar strength from the Garud Division of the Indian Army.

The exercise curriculum is progressively planned where the participants will initially get familiar with each other's organisational structure, weapons, equipment, confidence training and tactical drills.

Subsequently, the training will advance to joint tactical exercises and battle drills of both the armies.

The training will culminate with a final validation exercise in which troops of both countries will jointly carry out an operation against terrorists in a fictitious but realistic setting.