India and the US are holding a special forces exercise where the focus of troops is to practice bombing operations by fighter aircraft on enemy locations.
Amid the ongoing conflict with China along the border, India and the US are holding special forces exercise where the focus of troops is to practice bombing operations by fighter aircraft on enemy locations.
In an exclusive interaction with India Today, sources said the exercise assumes significance as it is happening when India and China have been in a standoff for the last three years and things are likely to heat up in the upcoming summer season.
The two sides have already deployed 50,000 troops in the eastern Ladakh sector and are in a state of heavy preparedness all along the Line of Actual Control from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh in the northeast.
The special forces of the Indian Air Force, known as the Grode, have been deployed in the forward sectors of Ladakh, carrying out the same set of operations, they said.
The troops of both sides have taken part in games and drills in the vicinity of the National Capital Region and are expected to move to Kalaikunda, where troops of both countries will engage in an air exercise known as ‘Co-op India 2023’. During the ongoing drills, the focus of the two special forces was to help out fighter aircraft operations, such as designating lasers on vital assets and targets in the enemy locations.
Even though the schedule of the exercise may change, senior level officers from both sides would be meeting on the sidelines to discuss further strengthening of cooperation between them. India has taken part in multiple war games in the last few months where US has been a regular partner in multilateral set-ups .
The Indian Air Force is also going to go to France and Greece with its frontline fighters, including the Rafale and the Sukhoi 30, to engage with the multinational forces present there against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war going on for over a year.
Source: India Today
