India, U.S. will hold military exercises near China border

[sorcerer]

India, U.S. will hold military exercises near China border
The Armies of India and the United States are all set to flex their muscles close to the India-China land border, just three months after Indian Navy sailed through the South China Sea in an affirmation of freedom of navigation in international waters. A total of 225 US Army soldiers are landing at Chaubuttia in Uttarakhand to start the two-week-long joint exercise called Yudh Abhyas, from 14 September. This is the 12th edition of the India-US joint exercise and the first in an area close to the border with China.

“Interconnectivity and interdependence are the new global order, interoperability and jointness as being applied in Exercise Yudh Abhyas 2016 are the new military essentials,” Lt Gen Balwant Singh Negi, GOC in C Central Command, told The Sunday Guardian.

India’s military and strategic ties with the United States are growing rapidly. The Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) signed between US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar just a couple of weeks ago was a major step to curb firepower from likely threats. LEMOA has created a formal platform between India and the US to mutually use each other’s military bases and other facilities. With a trilateral joint exercise called Malabar involving Indian, US and Japanese Navies in June this year, India had sent a strong message to China that it would not allow any country to control the South China Sea. Yudh Abhyas is an extension of the same message of freedom from fear of threat by forces inimical to democracy and forces backing terrorism.

Lt Gen Rajan Ravindran, Chief of Staff, HQ Central Command, told this newspaper, “Exercise Yudh Abhyas-2016, the Indo-US joint exercise is a giant step for the armies of two great democratic nations to train and gain from each other’s rich operational experiences.”

Yudh Abhyas will be the first India-US exercise after LEMOA came into existence. The Chaubuttia military station near Ranikhet is situated just over 100 km away from the India-China border. Yudh Abhyas will start with the unfurling of the national flags of India and the US, apart from the playing of the two countries’ national anthems, Jana Gana Mana and the Star Spangled Banner, respectively. The US contingent will have soldiers from the 5th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Stryker Brigade combat team and 7th Infantry Division of the US Army, while an equal strength of 225 soldiers from the Indian Army will be from the 14th Battalion of the Garhwal Rifles and the 12thBattalion of the Madras Regiment. 14 Garhwal Rifles will engage US Army soldiers in command post exercises and 12 Madras Regiment in field exercises.

An official from the US embassy told The Sunday Guardian, “Yudh Abhyas will be an excellent opportunity for US and Indian forces to share tactics, techniques, procedures and operational experiences. Yudh Abhyas is also an opportunity to broaden US-India military cooperation and enhance interoperability. The US side sincerely appreciates the excellent hospitality and amazing logistics support provided by the Indian Army in the lead up to the exercise.”

Yudh Abhyas has been strategically planned by the Ministry of Defence keeping in mind the features of the Line of Control, which India shares with Pakistan and the Line of Actual Control, which India shares with China. The exercise will be conducted in the heavily forested areas of Chaubattia, where the heights range from 6,000 feet to 8,000 feet. The exercise will begin with a difficult march of approximately 6 km with complete battle loads of almost 30 kg on each soldier. Then the soldiers of both the Armies will familiarise themselves with each other’s organisational structures, weapons and tactical drills. To simulate a counter insurgency and counter terrorism environment, the tactical part of the exercise will include “raid, cordon and search” operations, with the emphasis on using state of the art equipment for surveillance, tracking and identification of terrorists, using specialist weapons, sensing and neutralising IEDs and establishing effective communications. In the last three days and two nights of Yudh Abhyas, the validation exercise will be conducted with troops being inducted by helicopters into a notional hostile area. The drill will be followed as per the UN mandate and both militaries are looking forward to the exercise.

However, authoritative sources said that “There is no question of China being the focus, it is only because of geographical features and logistics that the region around Ranikhet was chosen for this long-planned exercise.” They add that “It is the policy of both the US and India to seek to have a friendly and cooperative relationship with a major trading partner, China.”



http://www.sundayguardianlive.com/news/6435-india-us-will-hold-military-exercises-near-china-border

.............

china has nothing to worry about... them china has already said that
China downplays India-US logistics defence pact as "normal cooperation"
"
"We have noted relevant report. Hope that this cooperation between India and US would work to promote stability and development of the region," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said in reply to a question about the 'Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement' (LEMOA) signed between India and the US.

"For such normal cooperation between the two sides we are glad to see it happen," she said.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/wor...mal-cooperation/2016/08/30/article3604232.ece

...
china should understand that India - US Yudh abhyas is very normal!

 

[Filtercoffee]

Now I understand what Indus bank means.

 

[Filtercoffee]

Bank for brics by the way since we fought ww2

 

[sorcerer]

Now I understand what Indus bank means.

errrr... you meant India US bank (Indus)
According to the bank, its name is derived from the Indus Valley Civilisation.[6]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IndusInd_Bank

 

[Filtercoffee]

Yes sir current state of affairs demand a few light notes I hope it's not offensive.

 

[sorcerer]

Yes sir current state of affairs demand a few light notes I hope it's not offensive.

:biggrin2:
Thats good!

30 characters of Organic Goodnesss

 

[roma]

i only hope those US soldiers will NOT have a permanent base in India

I'm fine with US advisers and trainers training our men , advising our strategy but the manpower should be basically ENTIRELY ours -

after all don't we have enough ? are there any unemployed people , India has to create millions of jobs to keep up with the population growth and the military is one way of usefully deploying people and giving them a living as well

cant we use them at lower positions to free the more physically fit to go to the border an other critical areas ? why do we need large numbers of the US foot soldiers level ?

If we keep to the principle of US trainers , specialists , equipment trainers and physical trainers, and strategists for our officers and men, then I would be entirely comfortable with any India-USA deal as regards our defence and warfare

but why should we have large numbers of them on our soil or waters when we have enough numbers of our own ?

if our quality is not up to par , then that's where their trainers can come in

any other arrangement , i feel is unsuitable AND WE MAY END UP LIKE PESKYSTAN !!! Where usa has after some years of USA treating them first as a pure vassal state and now begun to treat them with utter contempt !

that is the default direction of the relationship if we dumbly accept US larger numbers on our soil or ships

if parrikar does not emphasize that in action , in an active way with ashton carter and others, then we might find ourselves being treated like peskystan , first as a friend then a vassal state then with utter contempt

please modi and parrikar, let«s not allow ourselves to go down that road

we need good lawyers and dealmakers to get in at this early stage and craft the relationship with the USa along far better lines so we can avoid the lessons shown to us by peskystan !


@Ramdasrathsuryavanshi
@Ankit Purohit @raja696 @aditya10r
@Akask kumar @airtel @angeldude13 @aditya10r @Abhijat @ @Ancient Indian @ @anupamsurey @ @aliyah @ @Alien @ @Alien @Aravind Sanjeev @A chauhan @asingh10 @aditya g @asianobserve @Bahamut @BATTLE FIELD @bose @Bornubus @brational @blueblood @Blackwater @Blood+ @bhai-117 @Bangalorean @bengalraider @Bengal_Tiger @biswas_k11 @Bharat Ek Khoj @Brood Father @cobra commando @Chirag @Chris Jude @Chinmoy @Cadian @DingDong @dhananjay1 @ersakthivel @FRYCRY @G10 @Gessler @garg_bharat @guru-dutt @Hari Sud @hit&run @hardip @HeinzGud @indiandefencefan @I_PLAY_BAD @Indian Devil @Indibomber @Jangaruda @Jay Patel @jackprince @Kshatriya87 @kstriya @LETHALFORCE @laughingbuddha @mhk99 @Mikesingh @mayfair
@MetsaMan @Mark Antony @manutdfan @maomao @Navneet Kundu @Neil @Nicky G @OneGrimPilgrim @pmaitra @parijataka @PaliwalWarrior @Pulkit @PrashantAzazel @Rahul Singh @Rowdy @Razor @Rashna @rock127 @R.parida @shade @sasum @smestarz @Sakal Gharelu Ustad @Srinivas_K @sunnyv @sgarg @sabari @Sameet2 @saik @sorcerer @Superdefender @sydsnyper @Sridevi @SREEKAR @Screambowl @Sylex21 @Tactical Frog @TejasMK3 @The enlightened @tejas warrior @tharun @thethinker @tsunami @TODELU @VIP @VaghaDeva @Vishwarupa @Vishal Guts @Yusuf @Yumdoot @Zebra

 

[aditya10r]

i only hope those US soldiers will NOT have a permanent base in India

I'm fine with US advisers and trainers training our men , advising our strategy but the manpower should be basically ENTIRELY ours -

after all don't we have enough ? are there any unemployed people , India has to create millions of jobs to keep up with the population growth and the military is one way of usefully deploying people and giving them a living as well

cant we use them at lower positions to free the more physically fit to go to the border an other critical areas ? why do we need large numbers of the US foot soldiers level ?

If we keep to the principle of US trainers , specialists , equipment trainers and physical trainers, and strategists for our officers and men, then I would be entirely comfortable with any India-USA deal as regards our defence and warfare

but why should we have large numbers of them on our soil or waters when we have enough numbers of our own ?

if our quality is not up to par , then that's where their trainers can come in

any other arrangement , i feel is unsuitable AND WE MAY END UP LIKE PESKYSTAN !!! Where usa has after some years of USA treating them first as a pure vassal state and now begun to treat them with utter contempt !

that is the default direction of the relationship if we dumbly accept US larger numbers on our soil or ships

if parrikar does not emphasize that in action , in an active way with ashton carter and others, then we might find ourselves being treated like peskystan , first as a friend then a vassal state then with utter contempt

please modi and parrikar, let«s not allow ourselves to go down that road

we need good lawyers and dealmakers to get in at this early stage and craft the relationship with the USa along far better lines so we can avoid the lessons shown to us by peskystan !


@Ramdasrathsuryavanshi
@Ankit Purohit @raja696 @aditya10r
@Akask kumar @airtel @angeldude13 @aditya10r @Abhijat @ @Ancient Indian @ @anupamsurey @ @aliyah @ @Alien @ @Alien @Aravind Sanjeev @A chauhan @asingh10 @aditya g @asianobserve @Bahamut @BATTLE FIELD @bose @Bornubus @brational @blueblood @Blackwater @Blood+ @bhai-117 @Bangalorean @bengalraider @Bengal_Tiger @biswas_k11 @Bharat Ek Khoj @Brood Father @cobra commando @Chirag @Chris Jude @Chinmoy @Cadian @DingDong @dhananjay1 @ersakthivel @FRYCRY @G10 @Gessler @garg_bharat @guru-dutt @Hari Sud @hit&run @hardip @HeinzGud @indiandefencefan @I_PLAY_BAD @Indian Devil @Indibomber @Jangaruda @Jay Patel @jackprince @Kshatriya87 @kstriya @LETHALFORCE @laughingbuddha @mhk99 @Mikesingh @mayfair
@MetsaMan @Mark Antony @manutdfan @maomao @Navneet Kundu @Neil @Nicky G @OneGrimPilgrim @pmaitra @parijataka @PaliwalWarrior @Pulkit @PrashantAzazel @Rahul Singh @Rowdy @Razor @Rashna @rock127 @R.parida @shade @sasum @smestarz @Sakal Gharelu Ustad @Srinivas_K @sunnyv @sgarg @sabari @Sameet2 @saik @sorcerer @Superdefender @sydsnyper @Sridevi @SREEKAR @Screambowl @Sylex21 @Tactical Frog @TejasMK3 @The enlightened @tejas warrior @tharun @thethinker @tsunami @TODELU @VIP @VaghaDeva @Vishwarupa @Vishal Guts @Yusuf @Yumdoot @Zebra

agree with you.
But i guess mr. Parrikar had made it clear that there will be zero us armed forces permanent bases in india.

 

[sorcerer]

i only hope those US soldiers will NOT have a permanent base in India

I'm fine with US advisers and trainers training our men , advising our strategy but the manpower should be basically ENTIRELY ours -

No way they can advise what the INDIAN ARMY Should to as a strategic measure.
USA should anyway be NOT allowed to form strategic objectives on Indian missions in the battle front.
Never Ever Ever..them asses have a way of curving it all for their benefit. We would walk into a diplomatic ambush at political level if US is allowed to form strategies at our missions.
These guys are notorious for planting intel. and faking it all.

Co-Training..yes.
but strategy formation on regional missions with India involved be it man or material should be Indian prerogative.

cant we use them at lower positions to free the more physically fit to go to the border an other critical areas ? why do we need large numbers of the US foot soldiers level ?

Training with US soldiers is meant for interoperability in case of a Joint operations to counter NARCOTERRORISM from pakistan. Drugs is a major source of currency for terrorists.
Indian army has a great deal of experience by thwarting terrorists attacks and succesfully defending the terror nation pakistan on a day to day basis.
US army could learn a few disciplines from Indian army in that regard to counter terrorism.

If we keep to the principle of US trainers , specialists , equipment trainers and physical trainers, and strategists for our officers and men, then I would be entirely comfortable with any India-USA deal as regards our defence and warfare

but why should we have large numbers of them on our soil or waters when we have enough numbers of our own ?

Theres a lot more than what media tells. If US interests are hurt by china through NoKo then US should retaliate at all costs at the sponsor of NoKo. This could be one reason why US wants a presence in the region with inter operable capable force.
Lets say the US could be trying to spread the chinese force thin across its borders by opening multiple attack points.

GoI has already said that no permanent base will be made available for US on Indian soil.

if our quality is not up to par , then that's where their trainers can come in

So far Indian army has protected this nation through all thick and thin... IMO..USA can learn from the Indian army on How to fight a war and WIN!!

any other arrangement , i feel is unsuitable AND WE MAY END UP LIKE PESKYSTAN !!! Where usa has after some years of USA treating them first as a pure vassal state and now begun to treat them with utter contempt !

peskistan has nothing to offer to US other than its rogue army and peskistan will stoop all low for foreign funds.
India is way above the levels of pakistan. Also India has seen all colors of USA and knows very well how NOT to trust USA.

if parrikar does not emphasize that in action , in an active way with ashton carter and others, then we might find ourselves being treated like peskystan , first as a friend then a vassal state then with utter contempt

A series of episodes did show very well how India could react and in a stinging manner at US misbehavior. We have seen that with the Khobragade case where a US misadventure nearly cost them their well earned reputation in the India minds...in less than 24 hours US relation was slipping south.

we need good lawyers and dealmakers to get in at this early stage and craft the relationship with the USa along far better lines so we can avoid the lessons shown to us by peskystan !

As I told pakis have nothing to offer to US other than its rogue army and its supposed relationship with terror groups and terror factories.
The real worry is if India takes USA for granted USA would make India into another Europe.
India has to maintain a real balance between USA and Its own interests.
India should maintain limited interoperability with US..be it manpower wise or and mil.Equipment wise to have a good leverage on arbitrations with USA.
IMO US could be a large force but comparing with the Indian Army they are Jujoobi..India has to keep that Morale high and with pride.

 

[sorcerer]

i only hope those US soldiers will NOT have a permanent base in India

I'm fine with US advisers and trainers training our men , advising our strategy but the manpower should be basically ENTIRELY ours -

This is something Indians should be worried about from USA.

http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/...to-the-us-army-from-a-former-drill-sgt.77393/

 

[Mikesingh]

any other arrangement , i feel is unsuitable AND WE MAY END UP LIKE PESKYSTAN !!! Where usa has after some years of USA treating them first as a pure vassal state and now begun to treat them with utter contempt !

There's no question of the US equating us with the failed state of Pakistan and treating us as a vassal state like them! We're militarily and economically far too big for the Americans to treat us like their doormat Pakistan. We are the pivot of Asia and a counter to Chinese hegemony in the region and thus part of the American great game of containing a rising China.

 

[rockey 71]

Remember how the banya firingi crept into SA?

 

[Adioz]

There's no question of the US equating us with the failed state of Pakistan and treating us as a vassal state like them! We're militarily and economically far too big for the Americans to treat us like their doormat Pakistan. We are the pivot of Asia and a counter to Chinese hegemony in the region and thus part of the American great game of containing a rising China.

Exactly. To USA, we are not a doormat, but a good proxy. They want Japan-India to act as USA's proxy against China. They do not want direct military confrontation (war) with China. All the more reason we cannot allow USA to dictate terms to us. Let the USA think its using us. We'll play hard to get. Get their weapons technology to plug current gaps and in the meantime develop our defence-industrial complex to self-sufficiency levels and on par with that of a developed country. Once we don't need USA's weapons or weapon components, we can begin asserting our status as an independent player more aggressively. We cannot allow the USA (or any other country for that matter) to draw us into their conflict.

Also, we need to balance Russia in a manner that the Russians start believing that they can act as a mediator between India and China. We need to show them that we are closer to Russia than USA. This can be done by more joint exercises with Russians than with any other country. We just have to make sure that we slowly distance ourselves from Russian military industries.

If Russia believes that a Russia-India-China alliance against the west is possible, and at the same time USA believes that a USA-India-Japan trilateral against China is achievable, we will be in a very favorable strategic position.

Keep this balance until India achieves self-reliance in Weapons design and manufacturing. Once that happens, USA and Russia loose most of their leverage with us and we can dash their hopes of goading India into an alliance.

Once that happens, even the Chinese will become a little less paranoid about India (since they won't have to worry about a US-India alliance against them).

 

[rockey 71]

Exactly. To USA, we are not a doormat, but a good proxy. They want Japan-India to act as USA's proxy against China. They do not want direct military confrontation (war) with China. All the more reason we cannot allow USA to dictate terms to us. Let the USA think its using us. We'll play hard to get. Get their weapons technology to plug current gaps and in the meantime develop our defence-industrial complex to self-sufficiency levels and on par with that of a developed country. Once we don't need USA's weapons or weapon components, we can begin asserting our status as an independent player more aggressively. We cannot allow the USA (or any other country for that matter) to draw us into their conflict.

Also, we need to balance Russia in a manner that the Russians start believing that they can act as a mediator between India and China. We need to show them that we are closer to Russia than USA. This can be done by more joint exercises with Russians than with any other country. We just have to make sure that we slowly distance ourselves from Russian military industries.

If Russia believes that a Russia-India-China alliance against the west is possible, and at the same time USA believes that a USA-India-Japan trilateral against China is achievable, we will be in a very favorable strategic position.

Keep this balance until India achieves self-reliance in Weapons design and manufacturing. Once that happens, USA and Russia loose most of their leverage with us and we can dash their hopes of goading India into an alliance.

Once that happens, even the Chinese will become a little less paranoid about India (since they won't have to worry about a US-India alliance against them).

Dunno why Indians need to go to the Russians or the Americans when they really ought to concentrate on going it alone? Perfectly do-able if there is national will. And if India maintains good relations with neighbors so that the West cannot play one against the other.

 

[Adioz]

Dunno why Indians need to go to the Russians or the Americans when they really ought to concentrate on going it alone? Perfectly do-able if there is national will. And if India maintains good relations with neighbors so that the West cannot play one against the other.

I feel u bro! (at least some of it)
IF there is national will, we can create some really good weaponry. Problems:-

• That "if" is a big one. The world is not perfect and neither are we.
• Creating good weaponry takes TIME and sustained effort + funds. In the meantime we have to make-do with equipment that is much behind our contemporaries. In such a scenario, the world powers will be a generation ahead of us for quite a while. However, in our current situation, we cannot allow our weapons to be outdated. We face some serious threats, and we are facing them NOW.

That said, I understand that we are not doing our utmost. Even in this world, it is possible to rely less on imports than we do today. Take infantry gear for example:-

I just found out, MKU is a subsidiary of GKG group (Indian Company) and a registered NATO supplier. It supplies gear for infantries all across the world to 100+ countries.

It manufactures the world's lightest helmet @ 1kg. It also manufactures night vision devices, ballistic shields, ballistic blankets and ballistic briefcases, ALL TYPES of body armour (including bomb-proof suits) and a variety of customized armour for various land, airborne and naval systems.


It is currently has products with 6th generation armour technology (40% lighter, 30% thinner and 50% more flexible).


They manufacture all this for 230+ forces worldwide. THEN WHY THE HELL DO OUR TROOPS STILL HAVE VINTAGE GEAR?

We are not doing our utmost.

But that has nothing to do with what our geopolitical posturing should be on the world stage.
Do not confuse what i said about us using US for its weapons technology. Weapons tech is just a part of the equation. And we need to eliminate that part for it gives Russians and Americans a leverage over us (due to our precarious security situation and lack of domestic defence industry that can rival the best). What I highlighted was IMHO the best way to go about eliminating that leverage.

 

[rockey 71]

I feel u bro! (at least some of it)
IF there is national will, we can create some really good weaponry. Problems:-

• That "if" is a big one. The world is not perfect and neither are we.
• Creating good weaponry takes TIME and sustained effort + funds. In the meantime we have to make-do with equipment that is much behind our contemporaries. In such a scenario, the world powers will be a generation ahead of us for quite a while. However, in our current situation, we cannot allow our weapons to be outdated. We face some serious threats, and we are facing them NOW.

That said, I understand that we are not doing our utmost. Even in this world, it is possible to rely less on imports than we do today. Take infantry gear for example:-

We are not doing our utmost.

But that has nothing to do with what our geopolitical posturing should be on the world stage.
Do not confuse what i said about us using US for its weapons technology. Weapons tech is just a part of the equation. And we need to eliminate that part for it gives Russians and Americans a leverage over us (due to our precarious security situation and lack of domestic defence industry that can rival the best). What I highlighted was IMHO the best way to go about eliminating that leverage.

IMHO, the top priority must be mending fences with neighbors. Then dependence on weaponry would diminish.

 

[Adioz]

IMHO, the top priority must be mending fences with neighbors. Then dependence on weaponry would diminish.

Good opinion. But how do you propose we do that? Be specific.

 

[sorcerer]

IMHO, the top priority must be mending fences with neighbors. Then dependence on weaponry would diminish.

Not with pakistan using terrorism as state asset!

 

[no smoking]

Exactly. To USA, we are not a doormat, but a good proxy. They want Japan-India to act as USA's proxy against China. ..... and manufacturing. Once that happens, USA and Russia loose most of their leverage with us and we can dash their hopes of goading India into an alliance.

Basically, what you suggesting is that US will give their most valuable tech to you in exchange of you doing nothing. The fact is that so far there is no country has ever received that level of tech transfer from Americans, no matter how close they.

Once that happens, even the Chinese will become a little less paranoid about India (since they won't have to worry about a US-India alliance against them).

Wrong, Chinese never worried about India for this reason. In fact, they have the same reason in mind as Americans: an India's Indian Ocean.

 

[hardip]

Not with pakistan using terrorism as state asset!

no pkistan is terrorist country...;D