The 14th Edition of the Indo-US Joint Special Forces exercise “Vajra Prahar 2023” commenced at the Joint Training Node, Umroi cantonment in Meghalaya on Tuesday, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. It also informed that the US contingent is represented by personnel from the 1st Special Forces Group (SFG) of US Special Forces while the Indian Army contingent is led by Special Forces personnel from the Eastern Command.

Exercise Vajra Prahar is a joint exercise conducted between Indian Army and US Army Special Forces with the aim at sharing best practices and experiences in areas such as joint mission planning and operational tactics. It is a platform to enhance inter-operability and strengthen defence cooperation between the armies of India and the United States of America.

The Ministry said that during the next three weeks (21st November to 11th December 2023) in Meghalaya, the Indo-US Joint Special Forces will plan and rehearse a series of Special Operations, Counter Terrorist Operations, Air Borne operations in simulated conventional and unconventional scenarios in mountainous terrain. Key highlights include ‘Combat free fall insertion of troops from stand-off distances’, ‘Water borne insertion of troops’, ‘Precision engagement of targets at long ranges’, ‘Combat air controlling of fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft’ besides ‘Airborne insertion and sustenance of troops’, it added.

The first edition was conducted in the year 2010 in India and the 13th edition of the Indo-US Joint Special Forces exercise was conducted at the Special Forces Training School (SFTS), Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh.