NEW DELHI: The special forces of India and the United States of America have begun joint training on Monday in the mountains of Himachal Pradesh as part of Vajra Prahar series of exercises.
The Indian Army in a statement said, "The 13th edition of the Indo-US Joint Special Forces exercise 'Ex Vajra Prahar 2022' commenced at the Special Forces Training School (SFTS), Bakloh (HP) today."
"During the course of next 21 days, teams of both armies would jointly train, plan and execute a series of Special Operations, Counter Terrorist Operations, Air Borne operations in simulated conventional and unconventional scenarios in mountainous terrain," the Army added.
According to them "this joint exercise is a significant step in strengthening the traditional bond of friendship between the special forces of both Nations as well as improve bilateral defence cooperation between India and the USA."
The US contingent is represented by personnel from the 1st Special Forces Group (SFG) and Special Tactics Squadron (STS) of the US Special Forces and the Indian Army contingent is formed by drawing Special Forces personnel under the aegis of SFTS.
The Vajra Prahar series of joint exercises aims to share best practices and experiences in areas such as joint mission planning and operational tactics as also to improve inter-operability between the Special Forces of both the nations.
This annual exercise is hosted alternatively between India and the United States. The 12th edition was conducted at Joint Base Lewis Mcchord, Washington (USA) in October 2021.