The third edition of the combined military exercise 'AUSTRAHIND' began at the Foreign Training Node in Pune on Friday.
This exercise, which takes place annually and alternates between India and Australia, will conclude on November 21, according to a defence announcement.
The previous iteration of the exercise occurred in Australia in December 2023.
The Indian contingent, consisting of 140 personnel, will primarily include a battalion from the DOGRA Regiment along with 14 members from the Indian Air Force, while the Australian Army contingent, made up of 120 personnel, will feature the 13th Light Horse Regiment of the 10th Brigade of the 2nd Division, it stated.
The aim of AUSTRAHIND is to promote military cooperation between India and Australia through enhancement of interoperability in conduct of joint sub conventional operations in semi-urban environments in semi-desert terrain under Chapter VII of the UN mandate, the release said.
"The exercise will focus on high degree of physical fitness, joint planning and joint tactical drills. It will be conducted in two phases - combat conditioning and tactical training phase and validation phase," it said.
Drills/ aspects to be rehearsed during the exercise will include response to a terrorist action of capturing a defined territory, establishment of a joint operations centre, conduct of joint counter terrorism operations like raid as well as search and destroy missions, securing of helipad, employment of drones and counter drone measures, and special heli borne operations, the release informed.
AUSTRAHIND will enable the two sides to share their best practices in tactics, techniques and procedures of conducting tactical operations along with developing bonhomie and camaraderie between soldiers, as per the release.
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