The third edition of the India-Australia joint military exercise, AustraHind, began at the Foreign Training Node, Pune in Maharashtra on Friday.
Exercise AustraHind, an annual event conducted alternatively in India and Australia, will be held till November 21.
The exercise aims to promote military cooperation between the two sides through the enhancement of interoperability in holding joint sub-conventional operations in a semi-urban environment in semi-desert terrain under Chapter VII of the UN mandate. High degree of physical fitness, joint planning, and joint tactical drills will be in focus during the exercise, which will be conducted in two phases—combat conditioning and tactical training phase and validation phase.
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The drills that will be rehearsed include response to a terrorist action of capturing a defined territory; establishment of a joint operations centre; conduct of joint counter-terrorism operations like raid and search and destroy missions; securing of a helipad; employment of drones and counter-drone measures, among others.
“Exercise AustraHind will enable the two sides to share their best practices in tactics, techniques and procedures of conducting tactical operations. The exercise will also facilitate developing bonhomie and camaraderie between soldiers of both sides,” the defence ministry said in a release.
The Indian contingent will be represented mainly by a battalion of the Dogra Regiment and 14 personnel from the Indian Air Force, while the Australian Army contingent will be represented by the 13th Light Horse Regiment of the 10th Brigade of 2nd Division.
The last edition of the exercise was conducted in Australia in December 2023.