India and Nepal will carry out joint military training exercise in Uttarakhand from September 20, 2021, the Indian Army said on Friday.
The joint military training exercise, Surya Kiran, will be conducted at Pithoragarh in Uttarakhand.
According to media reports, during the training exercise, an infantry battalion from the Indian Army and a formation of equivalent strength from the Nepali Army would be sharing the experiences they had during the conduct of various counter-insurgency operations.
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Both the armies, as part of the exercise, would familiarise themselves with each other’s weapons, equipment, tactics, techniques, and procedures of operating in a counter-insurgency environment in mountainous terrain.
There would also be a series of expert academic discussions on various subjects such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR), high-altitude warfare and jungle warfare, reports said.
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The joint military training would culminate with a gruelling 48 hours exercise to validate the performance of both the armies in counter-insurgency in the mountainous terrain.
The Indian Army said: “The exercise is part of an initiative to develop inter-operability and sharing expertise between the two nations.”
This joint military training will go a long way in improving bilateral relations and also will be a major step towards further strengthening the traditional friendship between the two nations,
The last edition of Exercise Surya Kiran was conducted in Nepal in 2019.
Indian Army chief Gen M.M. Naravane last year visited Nepal to enhance the bilateral relationship.
Gen Naravane met then Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli as well as his counterpart Gen Purna Chandra Thapa.
The ties between the two neighbouring countries came under strain last year after China increased its influence in Nepal.