Special Forces of India & USA Participated in Exercise ‘Vajra Prahar’
News Desk
Special forces of India and the US carried out a joint military exercise at Bakloh[1] in Himachal Pradesh in March 2021 to further enhance interoperability between the two sides. It was the 11th edition of the exercise ‘Vajra Prahar’ which is aimed at sharing best practices and experiences in areas such as joint mission planning and operational tactics.
The 11th edition of the joint special forces military exercise ‘Vajra Prahar ‘ between India and the United States was conducted at Special Forces Training School, at Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh. It is conducted alternately in India and the US to share the best practices and experiences in areas such as joint mission planning and operational tactics as also to improve interoperability between the Special Forces of both nations. The 10th edition of ‘Vajra Prahar ‘was held in 2019 at Seattle, USA.
The exercise was aimed at improving interoperability between the special forces of the two countries. During such events, the armies of participating nations jointly train, plan and execute a series of operations for neutralization of threats of varied nature with a common aim of countering threats of international terrorism through mutual training and cooperation.
India and the US carried out a two-day naval exercise in the eastern Indian Ocean Region on March 28 and 29. The Indian Navy deployed its warship Shivalik and long-range maritime patrol aircraft P8I in the ‘PASSEX’ exercise while the US Navy was represented by USS Theodore Roosevelt carrier strike group.
The following Special Forces are available in India:
- MARCOS (Marine Commandos)- Navy
- Para Commandos Indian- Army
- Garud Commando Force-Air Force
- Ghatak Force- Army
- National Security Guard or Black Cats-CAPF and Indian Army
- COBRA- CAPF
- Special Frontier Force- RAW
- Force One- Maharashtra Govt.
The U.S. has number of special forces, like- Army Green Berets, Army Night Stalkers, Army Rangers, Navy SEALs, Navy SEALs Missions, Navy SWCCs, Marine MARSOC, Marine RECON, Marine RECON Missions, and Air Force Special Tactics
Before that there were a good number of Indo-US Exercises; Exercise Yudh Abhyas (Army), Cope India (Air Force), Red Flag (USA’s multilateral air exercise), Malabar Exercise (trilateral naval exercise of India, USA and Japan).