India, UK begin joint military exercise in Salisbury Plain

India and the UK on Thursday (27) began a two-week military exercise in Britain's Salisbury Plain as part of efforts to consolidate their military ties.

Soldiers of the 2 Royal Gorkha Rifles from the UK and Indian Army troops from the Bihar Regiment are participating in the 'Ajeya Warrior' exercise, officials said.

The Indian Army contingent arrived at Brize Norton on Wednesday (26) in an Indian Air Force C-17 aircraft. The contingent is carrying indigenous weapons and equipment.

The seventh edition of the military exercise is being conducted from April 27 to May 11.

The 'Ajeya Warrior' is a biennial training exercise between the two sides, conducted alternately in the UK and India.

The last edition of the exercise was held at Chaubatia, Uttarakhand in October 2021.

"The aim of the exercise is to build positive military relations, imbibe each other's best practices and promote the ability to operate together while undertaking company-level sub-conventional operations in urban and semi-urban environments under UN mandate," the Indian Army said.

It said the exercise is also aimed at developing interoperability between the two armies.

"The scope of this exercise involves a Command Post Exercise (CPX) at the battalion level and company level field training exercise (FTX)," the Army said in a statement.

"During the exercise, participants will engage in a variety of missions testing their operational acumen in various simulated situations and showcase and refine their tactical drills, and learn from each other's operational experience," it said.

The Army said the exercise is yet another "significant milestone" in defence cooperation between the two forces and it will further foster the bilateral relations.

(PTI)