Indian Armed Forces' contingent leaves for Australia to take part in joint military exercise 'AustraHind-23'

New Delhi: Days after the India-Australia 2+2 summit, an Indian Armed Forces contingent with soldiers from all three services left for Perth on Wednesday to take part in the two-week-long second edition of AustraHind-23 – a joint military exercise.

The Indian contingent comprises 60 personnel from a battalion of the Gorkha Rifles of the Indian Army along with an officer of the Indian Navy and 20 personnel from the Indian Air Force, an Indian Army spokesperson said here.

The Australian side will also have representatives from the three services. The Australian Army contingent will comprise 60 personnel from the 13th Brigade while there will be 20 personnel each from the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force.

To be conducted between Nov 22 and Dec 6, the warfare drill will promote inter-operability while undertaking multi-domain operations in urban and semi-urban terrain following the United Nations peacekeeping operations protocol.

This is the second edition of the exercise after the maiden edition last year at the Indian Army’s Mahajan field firing range in Rajasthan.

The joint exercise will also seek to rehearse techniques and procedures for conducting tactical operations.

The training curriculum includes sniper firing, and jointly operating surveillance and communication equipment to achieve a high degree of situational awareness. Casualty management and evacuation will also be rehearsed besides tactical actions at the company/ battalion level.

At the 2+2 meeting earlier this week, New Delhi and Canberra underscored the importance of bilateral military relations as a “core pillar” in the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two nations.

The two countries also had bilateral meetings between Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar also held a one-on-one discussion.

The two sides discussed a likely agreement for air-to-air refuelling of military aircraft and explored ways for cooperation in hydrography and anti-submarine and anti-drone warfare.