Elite soldiers of the Indian and British armed forces will get a unique opportunity to share best practices during the month-long Himalayan Warrior joint training drill that kicks off in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir ON Monday.
The exercise, which will conclude October 11, includes a period of acclimatisation.
“This specialist environmental training is the culmination of three years interaction between the Royal Marines mountain leaders and the Indian Army High Altitude Warfare School,” a Defence Ministry release said on Sunday.
Emphasis will be given to survival and basic infantry skills in order to improve the ability of soldiers to operate at heights above 15,000 feet.
In this, the Indian Army is uniquely placed as majority of its battalions have, at one time or another, served on the Siachen Glacier, considered the world’s highest battlefield where the heights rise to 22,000 feet and the temperature plummets to minus 50 degrees Celsius in winter.
Till a truce was declared in 2003, Indian and Pakistani troops were engaged in a bitter two-decade standoff along the 76-km-long glacier that saw some 600 Indian soldiers losing their lives.
