NEW DELHI: While the bilateral tri-services of India and the US commenced the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise Tiger Triumph-24 on Monday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a telephonic conversation with US Secretary of Defence Mr Lloyd Austin and discussed a range of bilateral, regional security and defence cooperation issues.
The Ministry of Defence in a statement said, “Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a telephonic conversation with US Secretary of Defence Mr Lloyd Austin on March 18, 2024. Both Ministers briefly discussed a range of bilateral, regional security and defence cooperation issues.”
They reviewed the recent bilateral events such as the INDUS-X Summit held in New Delhi in February 2024, and the bilateral Tri-Service exercise ‘Tiger Triumph’ which commenced in India on March 18, 2024, MoD added.
In November 2023, the maiden India-US Defense Acceleration Ecosystem (INDUS-X) Investors Event saw interest from investors in start-ups and MSMEs operating in the defence sector and emerging opportunities under the INDUS-X initiative.
The US Secretary of Defence appreciated the important role being played by the Indian Navy in conducting anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean Region. The two ministers discussed ways and means to implement the India-US Defence Cooperation Roadmap which was concluded last year. Other defence industrial cooperation issues such as repair of US naval ships in Indian shipyards were also briefly discussed.
Both the ministers had last met in New Delhi in November 2023 during the India-US Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue.
The Indian Navy on Monday said, “In consonance with the established partnership between India and the US, a bilateral tri-Service Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise between both countries, Tiger Triumph-24, is scheduled on the Eastern Seaboard from 18 to 31 Mar 24.”
The exercise is aimed at developing interoperability for conducting HADR operations and refining Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to enable rapid and smooth coordination between forces of both countries, said the Navy.
Indian Navy ships with integral helicopters and landing crafts embarked, Indian Navy aircraft, Indian Army personnel and vehicles and Indian Air Force aircraft and helicopters along with the Rapid Action Medical Team (RAMT) would be participating in the exercise. The US would be represented by US Navy Ships with embarked troops of the US Marine Corps and US Army.
The harbour phase is scheduled from March 18-25. Personnel from both navies would participate in training visits, subject matter expert exchanges, sports events and social interactions. On completion of the phase, the ships, with the troops embarked, would sail for the sea phase and undertake maritime, amphibious and HADR operations in accordance with injected situations.
The joint exercise would culminate with a closing ceremony on the completion of the sea phase.
