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OpINION NOVEMBER 26, 2021 | The Indian Eye 12

exercise yudh abhyas 2021 in alaska:

demonstration of indo-us high altitude

military interoperability

The location, time, scale, participants and objectives of any joint military exercise can project
a signal to a common adversary

R. VIGNESh

he second phase of the 25th
iteration of the Malabar Ex-
tercise in October 2021 show-
cased the interoperability skills of
the QUAD navies in the Bay of the
Bengal, sending signals of collective
resolve for a free and open Indo-Pa-
cific. As the Malabar Exercise con-
cluded on 15 October 2021, another
joint military exercise between the
armies of the two largest democra-
cies went underway in the far-flung
Chugach Mountains of Alaska. In-
dian soldiers from the 7th Madras
Infantry Battalion Group alongside
American soldiers from the 40th
Cavalry Regiment of the US Army
engaged in intense training exercis-
es focusing on combined arms ma-
neuvers under extreme cold climatic
conditions.
Exercise Yudh Abhyas is the larg-
est joint military training between In-
dia and the US aimed at tactical level pants and objectives of any joint mil- The article perceives that the previ- of this exercise. Despite China’s ap-
drills and developing interoperabili- itary exercise can project a signal to ous iteration of Yudh Abhyas was not prehensions, the Indian government
ty. The key focus of the 17th Edition a common adversary. In this context, directed against China but Pakistan has repeatedly made it clear that
of Yudh Abhyas, conducted recently the latest iteration of Yudh Abhyas as the location of the exercise was in none of its political and military co-
in Alaska, was on aspects of high-al- assumes strategic significance as it proximity to the India–Pakistan bor- operation forums with the US or any
titude warfare like helicopter-based comes amidst the ongoing impasse der. Among other things, the article other nation is directed against any
mobilization, assault on an enemy in the mountainous terrain of LAC. gives insight on China’s insecuritF third party. This was expressed by the
position in mountainous terrain The Chinese government on several interoperability with the US Military Hon’ble External Affairs Minister S
and securing critical infrastructure. occasions in the past has expressed being detrimental to its interests. Jaishankar in his address to the press
Along with this, a demonstration of its apprehensions over India’s joint The location of the latest iter- with US Secretary of State Antony
the US Military’s drone buster gun, military exercises with the US and ation of the exercise is situated far Blinken during the latter’s visit to In-
as part of Counter Unmanned Ae- its other allies like Japan and Aus- away in the wilderness of Alaska, and dia in July 2021.
rial Systems (C-UAS), survival and tralia. Yudh Abhyas has also come the topography of the terrain bears As far as the Indian Army is
acclimatization to the inhospitable under the notice of the Chinese gov- striking similarities to the rugged concerned, aspects of Yudh Abhyas
terrain during mountain warfare ernment in the past. An article pub- mountainous terrain of the Sino-In- 2021 are extremely significant for
were the other key highlights of the lished by the Chinese state-run Glob- dian Border along the LAC where its strategy of enhancing deterrence
exercise. Exercise Yudh Abhyas has al Times views the previous iteration the impasse between the two nations along the Northern Borders which
been conducted since 2004, hosted of Yudh Abhyas held in February continues. Aspects like cold weather has been emphasized in its ‘Land
alternately between India and the 2021 as an indicator of the future of combat skills to train troops for sur- Warfare Doctrine of 2018’. The doc-
US with the previous iteration of the Indo-US defense cooperation, as it vival in Arctic conditions akin to the trine describes the Indian Army’s op-
exercise held in Bikaner, Rajasthan was the first joint exercise after Joe Himalayas were the central theme of erational strategy along the Northern
in February 2021. However, the lat- Biden assumed the presidency in the 14-day-long intense exercises. Al- Borders as force-centric and multi-
est iteration does imply significance January 2021. This article cautions though there have been no Chinese tiered, characterized by rapid mobili-
for both Indian Army’s strategy for India against engaging in joint mili- reactions to this exercise available in zation through augmentation of force
its Northern Borders and the US Ar- tary exercises with the US as it labels the public domain so far, it would be multipliers. The capability to engage
my’s Arctic Strategy. these exercises as part of a greater fair to assume that China must have the adversary in a self-contained and
The location, time, scale, partici- American strategy to contain China. taken note of the agenda and timing Continued at next page... >>

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