Article Posted on : - Apr 28, 2023

The 7th edition of joint military exercise “AJEYA WARRIOR-23” between India and the United Kingdom begins at Salisbury Plains, UK from 27 April to 11 May 2023. Photo: PIB

NEW DELHI (PTI): India and the UK have kick-started a two-week military exercise in Britain's Salisbury Plains as part of efforts to consolidate the overall 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 on Thursday.

The Indian Army contingent arrived at Brize Norton on Wednesday 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 that is conducted alternatively 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 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.