JAIPUR (PTI): The closing ceremony of the joint military exercise between the Indian and US Army, Exercise Yudh Abhyas-20' was held at Mahajan Field Firing Range on Sunday.

This was the 16th edition of the joint exercise and it began on February 8. The aim of the exercise was to focus on counter terrorism operations under the mandate of the United Nations.

The training focused primarily on subject matter exchange of topical issues of contemporary significance, drills at tactical level and sharing of best practices of each other, defence spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Amitabh Sharma said.

He said the joint training developed into an excellent professional forum which strengthened the capabilities of joint operations by both armies.

The exercise was conducted in two phases. The first phase of combat conditioning, tactical training and inter-operability was completed successfully by both the contingents. The training received by both the armies in the first phase was validated in the second phase.

The validation exercise was witnessed by Maj Gen Daniel Mc Daniel, Deputy Commander General, United States Army Pacific and Maj Gen Xavier Brunson, General Officer Commanding, 7th Infantry Division from the US Army together with Maj Gen Michael A J Fernandez and Maj Gen Gurpreet Singh, General Officer Commanding, Ranbankura Division of the Indian Army.

The closing ceremony was held at Mahajan Field Firing Ranges to commemorate the successful completion of the exercise and nourishing of relations between the two Armies, the spokesperson said.

He said that a series of programmes displaying the rich culture and heritage of both the nations were also witnessed by officials of both armies. The joint exercise was undoubtedly another significant milestone in the enhanced upward trajectory of India-US relations as well as towards the global war on terror was achieved, the spokesman added.