New Delhi: Amid the ongoing faceoff and unprecedentedly huge mobilisation of soldiers and war equipment by India and China along their troubled borders, Indian and American soldiers on Monday shared their MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) packets in extreme weather conditions in faraway Alaska with eastern Ladakh on their mind as part of the ongoing military exercise.
Recent developments including the failure of the 13th round of talks at the senior commander level may be indicative of a situation where deployment by the two Asian giants will continue this upcoming winter too.
With China being the elephant in the room and eastern Ladakh being the ground zero of the border conflict between India and China, it is no wonder that simulating the extreme conditions of the Karakorum-Himalayas dominates the ongoing 17th edition of ‘Yudh-Abhyas’ (‘war practice’) between India and US armies at Alaska’s Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Anchorage.
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From west to east and spread across Ladakh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, the 3,488-km-long India-China border straddles one of the world’s most difficult and extreme terrains on the Himalayas where accessibility is difficult, oxygen is scarce, and the climate extreme with winter temperatures ranging up to minus 30-40 degrees centigrade.
The Indian contingent is represented in ‘Yudh-Abhyas’ by the Madras Regiment while the 1st Squadron-Airborne, 40th Cavalry Regiment represents the US side. Giving an idea of the daily activity, an Indian Army official said on Monday, “A team of instructors from the High Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) delivered a lecture and gave a demonstration of the various types of rock craft and snow craft equipment held with the trained mountaineers of the Indian Army. The instructors also taught the Americans how to survive avalanches in extremely cold weather conditions. Later, both countries exchanged samples of their respective MREs (Meals Ready to Eat).”
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“The day started off with a five-km run in the cold weather after which the troops carried out a number of strengthening and stretching exercises. Post PT, the entire day was reserved for cold winter training. First, the American troops demonstrated the setting up of their Arctic tents (can hold up to 10 troops per tent), which was followed by a demonstration and later competition of setting up of a tent in the fastest time possible by a mixed team of Indian and US troops.”
Later, an officer from the Indian Army's Medical Corps delivered an informative lecture “Prevention and treatment of High altitude illnesses and cold injuries” for both contingents. Another high point was the trying out of the state-of-the-art M2010 and Barrett US sniper rifles by the Indian soldiers.
Begun in 2002, ‘Yudh-Abhyas’ is the largest running joint military training and defence cooperation endeavour between India and the US.
