Indian Gorkha Soldiers and 32 Infantry Regiment of the Japanese Ground Self Defence Force are engaged in a military drill at the Counter Insurgency Warfare School, Mizoram. India and Japan have massively extended their bilateral relations including defence with a key focus at keeping the Chinese hostility under check.
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The decision to have joint army exercises was taken at the 2017 India-Japan summit and the focus of ‘Dharma Guardian-2018″ is on increasing interoperability between troops from both nations.
Both sides will train, prepare and execute a range of tactical manoeuvres for neutralisation of possible threats that may be encountered in an urban warfare scenario. At the end of which the experts from the two sides will also hold detailed discussions to share their expertise on varied operational aspects.
According to the Army statement, “The objective of the exercise is to build and promote Army to Army relation in addition to exchange skills and experiences of both the armies.”
At the recently concluded India-Japan annual summit, PM Narendra Modi and his counterpart Shinzo Abe welcomed the joint military drills between each of the three services. The exercise will assist in boosting the defence relations between the two countries it will also contribute to developing mutual understanding and respect for each other’s armies.
According to the joint statement released at the end of the summit earlier this week, the two countries attach importance to the Malabar exercise, regular Passage Exercises (PASSEX) and other joint exercises including the first counter-terrorism exercise between the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF) and the Indian Army as well as Japan Air Self-Defence Force’s (JASDF) participation as observer in Cope India and welcome increased cooperation with like-minded countries.
