NEW DELHI (PTI): An Indian armed forces contingent comprising 81 personnel left for Australia on Wednesday to take part in the second edition of the joint military exercise AUSTRAHIND, the Defence Ministry said in a statement.

The exercise will be conducted in Perth in Australia from November 22 to December 6. The Australian contingent will include 20 personnel each from the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force.

The AUSTRAHIND exercise was instituted in 2022 and the first edition was conducted in Mahajan in Rajasthan. It is planned to be an annual training event to be conducted alternately in India and Australia.

The aim of the exercise is to foster collaborative partnership and share best practices between the two sides.

The exercise will promote inter-operability while undertaking multi-domain operations in urban and semi-urban terrains under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter on peacekeeping operations.

The joint exercise will promote exchange of ideas and jointly rehearse tactics, technique and procedures for conducting tactical operations.

Its training curriculum includes sniper firing and jointly operating surveillance and communication equipment to achieve a high degree of situational awareness. Casualty management and evacuation will also be rehearsed besides tactical actions at company/battalion level.

The exercise will also help in promoting understanding between the two militaries and further strengthen the defence cooperation between the two friendly nations.