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OpINION NOVEMBER 26, 2021 | The Indian Eye 13

isolated manner is deemed crucial for the mainstay in India’s defense diplo-
Indian Army units deployed along macy with other nations. Since 2010,
the mountainous terrain of northern India has undertaken joint army ex-
borders. To achieve this, the doctrine ercises with 18 countries, but what
recommends deployment of highly makes the Yudh Abhyas stand out is
agile strike formations acclimatized the fact that it has extensively evolved
for rapid application in high-altitude since its first iteration in 2004. Initial-
environments. Towards this end, ly, Yudh Abhyas like all other joint
Yudh Abhyas in Alaska assumes military exercises focused on estab-
significance, given its focus directed lishing familiarity between militaries
towards cold weather survival skills and learning from best practices of
and tactical offensive operations in each other. Another factor for Yudh
high-altitude environment. Abhyas gaining significance is due to
In 2019, the US Department of the increasing number of Western
Defense (DoD) submitted a report platforms being inducted into the In-
to Congress highlighting the strate- dian military.
gic significance of the Arctic Region Addressing the Goa Maritime
to America’s national security. This Conclave on 8 November 2021, the
report identifies the Arctic region Defense Secretary Mr Ajay Kumar
as a key avenue where great power stated that aggressive and expansion-
competition with China and Russia ing lack of equipment and training strategic approach towards the Arc- ist behavior in the Asia-Pacific region
poses a direct threat to US’ nation- for troops. Here he highlighted Yudh tic region. is a source of great concern for India’s
al security. Here the Arctic has been Abhyas as a critical platform for the Another aspect about Yudh national security. He reiterated In-
described as a potential vector for US Army to derive from the Indian Abhyas is that it is the only joint mil- dia’s resolve to deter aggressive and
an attack on the US homeland. The Army’s expertise on Mountain War- itary exercise series with the US that expansionist moves both on land and
report advocates the US Army main- fare due to the latter’s long history of continues in a bilateral format. Oth- the sea. In this context, Yudh Abhyas
taining credible deterrence in the combat and peacetime operations in er bilateral military exercises with the like the Malabar Exercise, is bound
Arctic by developing a lethal, resil- the Himalayas. US like the Malabar Exercise for the to play a significant role for India and
ient and agile military capability spe- Citing the US Army’s focus on Navies and the Cope India for the Air its partners to project credible strate-
cially tailored for the mountainous high-altitude warfare, Gen Andry- Forces have organically evolved into gic posturing. As a result, the future
terrain of the Arctic. Cold weather siak stated that Yudh Abhyas 2021 trilateral and multilateral formats as- iterations of the Yudh Abhyas will be
training of the US Military personnel will be hosted in Alaska for this pur- suming greater strategic significance. keenly watched by both allies and ad-
for acquiring specialized tactics and pose and announced that the future In the past US had suggested inclu- versaries of India.
procedures of mountain warfare is iteration of the exercise will be con- sion of Japan in Yudh Abhyas but
cited as a vital element in achieving ducted in the Himalayas in 2022. He this was declined by India. Evolving R. Vignesh is a Research Analyst in the
this objective. further stated that he considers the geopolitical dynamics of Indo-Pacific Military Affairs Centre, at Manohar
On 12 December 2020, the Arc- Yudh Abhyas in conjunction with the have led many democratic nations of Parrikar Institute for Defense Studies
tic Security Dialogue was organized US Army’s ‘Arctic Warrior Exercise’ the region to look for avenues to bol- and Analyses (MP-IDSA), New Delhi.
by the Woodrow Wilson Internation- as vital avenues for enhancing US ster their military capability. In this Views expressed are of the author and
al Centre in Washington DC. In this Military’s capability to operate in context, the Yudh Abhyas has the po- do not necessarily reflect the views of the
dialogue, top US Army Generals the Arctic. Collective deterrence fos- tential to be elevated into a platform Manohar Parrikar IDSA or of the Gov-
participated and spoke on US Ar- tered by the like-minded Arctic and for enhancing military cooperation ernment of India.
my’s Arctic Strategy. Amongst the Non-Arctic nations is cited as crucial of QUAD and other like-minded
most notable speaker in this event for a stable and conflict-free Arctic nations focusing on the land warfare This is the abridged version of the ar-
was Maj Gen Peter Andrysiak, the region. This is an area where Yudh domain akin to the Malabar Exercise ticle which appeared first in the Com-
former commander of the US Army Abhyas stands in conjunction to the for naval warfare. ment section of the website (www.idsa.
Alaska. He pointed out several exist- DoD’s report which advocates coop- Over the last decade, military in) of Manohar Parrikar Institute for
ing capability gaps of the US Army in eration with strategic partners as the exercises both in the bilateral and Defense Studies and Analyses, New Del-
waging high-altitude warfare includ- cornerstone for the US government’s multilateral formats have become hi on November 17, 2021

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