Despite China's objection, US-Indian armies successfully complete 'Yudh Abhyas'

Joint military exercise like 'Yudh Abhyas' improves interoperability, and takes the US-India Defence partnership to new heights, says the US Embassy in India.

New Delhi, Dec 03: The US Army and Indian Army successfully concluded the 18th edition of 'Yudh Abhyas', which was held on Uttarakhand's Auli, which is less than 100 kms from the China border, on Saturday.

"Joint military exercise like 'Yudh Abhyas' reinforces our commitment to the Indo-Pacific region, improves interoperability, and takes the US-India Defence partnership to new heights," US Embassy in India said in a tweet.

It is an exercise annually conducted between India and US with the aim of exchanging best practices, tactics, techniques and procedures between the armies of the two nations. Last year, it was conducted at Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska (USA) in October 2021.

However, China had raised objections to the ongoing Indo-US military exercise which is being held near the Line of Actual Control (LAC), saying that it violates the spirit of the two border agreements signed between New Delhi and Beijing.

"The joint military exercise between India and the US close to the LAC at the China-India border violates the spirit of the agreement between China and India in 1993 and 1996," PTI quoted Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian as saying during a media briefing. "It does not serve the mutual trust between China and India", he said in response to a question posed by a correspondent from Pakistan.

US Reaction
Echoing India's views, a senior-most American diplomat on Friday said military exercises by India and the US are none of China's business and Washington will back New Delhi's efforts to develop its capabilities to face regional challenges.

"On the exercises and China's comment on it, I would point you to the kind of statements that we've heard from our Indian colleagues to the effect that it's really none of their business," chargé d'affaires (CDA) Elizabeth Jones told reporters in Delhi.

'Yudha Abhyaas'
The training schedule focussed on the employment of an integrated battle group under Chapter VII of the UN Mandate and included all operations related to peacekeeping and peace enforcement.

The troops from both nations worked together to achieve common objectives and also focussed on Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. Also, both nations practised launching of swift and coordinated relief efforts in the wake of any natural calamity.

The exercise facilitated both Armies to share their wide experiences, and skills and enhance their techniques through information exchange.