INDIA-UK JOINT EXERCISE AJEYA WARRIOR
The Indo-UK Joint Military training aimed at enhancing counter terrorism skills got underway on 04 April 2013 at the hills of Belgaum. The Joint Training code-named Exercise Ajeya Warrior will simulate a scenario where both nations are working together on a joint operation in counter insurgency and counter terrorism environment. This is one of the major ongoing bilateral defence cooperation endeavours between the two countries and is the fifth in the series which initially started as a biennial feature in 2007 to be held in India and UK alternatively.
The four-week exercise will witness about 100 personnel of the Royal Welsh Regiment of the UK Army and a similar strength of a battalion of the Kumaon Regiment of Indian Army. The troops of the two countries are in the third week of their joint exercise. The first week comprised of familiarization with the organisation, weapons and equipment of both the armies. In the second week tactical drills of the two countries were demonstrated and practiced.
Both countries have troops deployed in active Counter Insurgency/ Counter Terrorism operations and thus sharing each other’s operational experiences in such diverse environment is of immense value. The exercise curriculum is progressively planned where the participants are initially made to get familiar with each other’s organisational structure, weapons, equipment, confidence training and tactical drills. Subsequently, the training advances to joint tactical exercises wherein the battle drills of both the armies are coherently unleashed. The exercise is a great step for the armies of the two democratic countries to train together and gain together from each other’s rich operational experiences.
The english soldiers look like douchebags. I'm not surprised these people were ruled by the Roman Empire for hundreds of years.
ReplyDelete@kulari94.
ReplyDeleteWell, in that case, what does that make us, after being ruled by the English for 200 years.? History has to be respected 'as is'.
Shikhar said:
ReplyDelete"Well, in that case, what does that make us, after being ruled by the English for 200 years?"
Shikhar, that makes Indians shortsighted for fighting with each other and cooperating with the English. The English merely used these divisions to their advantage. But this is different from what happened to the English, who were ruled because they were weak. When the Indians were somewhat united, they did not even have to fight to win their independence.
have you heard of the battle of Britain? the British fought 2 wars against the Germans
ReplyDeleteI am surprised at some of the out-of-context comments here that hark back to British imperial history and habit. As Indians we are either living in the past or day-dreaming about a future that never will be - no wonder Bollywood / Tollywood / ****wood turn out inane movies by the hundreds that Indians lap up.
ReplyDeleteThe pictures of Indian and Welsh infantry troops on a joint-exercise are an honest comical depiction of the incredulously skewed and stupid view that our desi, infantry pongo-dominated Army holds on the aspect of joint-training with foreign troops. Can you imagine a Kumaoni JCO or an OR, or an officer for that matter, conversing with a Welshman - I'd pay Lakhs of Rupees just to see this 'professional' interaction. I am pretty sure it will rival contemporary BBC comedies like 'Allo-Allo' and other Southall Asian laugh riots. Considering the intellectually-challenged monkeys that we promote and post to higher rank or appointment, I am the least bit surprised at these pictures of a military jamboree or a circus organised on the lines of a boy scout camp - jumping through fire, morning PT, speed marches, skill-at-arms... humiliatingly short-sighted stuff. The Brits must be laughing if not puking at our 'professional' acumen - screwed by counter-insurgents in Sri Lanka, Nagaland, held to a stalemate by insurgents in the Valley and Manipur. Why, it's the bloody infantry that left gaps and vacated (stocked) posts for the Pakis to occupy in the precursor to Operation VIJAY, apart from their practiced art of mismanaging the LOC in general - remember the beheadings ?
The triumvirate combination of Mandalistic pro-rata promotional policies, a poorly devised quantified selection system and a perverse appraisal system has corroded the intellectual, moral and professional fibre of the Army as a whole. 'Wake Up Generals' posted here by Broadsword was but a peek at the rot that had set in.
It's about time that we dropped this facade of being experts in counter-insurgency. We are NOT! Going by Indian (IPKF) performance in Sri Lanka, I can vouch for the surety of Indian Army returning in body bags by the hundreds and the rest with their tails between their legs if we were to deploy on ground in Afghanistan or Iraq. Why, Indian troops would be prime magnets for jehadi target practice and propaganda victories. The British and the Americans have emerged from a fairly extensive, and bruising, commitment in Urban Insurgency in Iraq. They have also been taught a thing or two in Afghanistan and earlier in Northern Ireland. There's a lot to be learnt from their counter-insurgency experience - the training, PSYOPS, RSTA, intelligence and effect-based operations. As professionals, we ought to exploit their counter-insurgency experience, especially in urban counter-insurgency which will be the flavour of the future. Yet we fool ourselves be assuming that foreign armies train with us for our counter-insurgency skills.
The only attribute that saves the Indian Army's ass is its ability to wage a protracted war of attrition. We jump to accept overwhelming casualties in operations and eugolise the dead as martyrs. Casualties are never investigated for command lapses, training deficiencies, flawed decision-making, or general professional failures.
So the only silver-lining I see in the entire exercise is it being named semantically similar to Broadsword's actual name.levai cast
There is significant truth and honesty in what Mr Gabbar states in his comment above.
ReplyDeleteThe Indian Army has absolutely no strategic vision or thought. It is a sad sight and shame to see the derogatory and patronising manner in which Indian officers treat and interact with student officers from neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Maldives, Myanmar, the Gulf countries and African armies attending courses of instruction at various training establishments of the Indian Army. These officers from 'friendly' foreign countries are often bitter at the way they are viewed and treated in contrast to the manner in which officers from Western armies are treated. One has to only see (and hear of) the contrast in the manner that Pakistan treats its foreign course students. These foreign officers subsequently rise in authority and influence in their own armies by virtue of their comparative outstanding merit, given their selection for foreign courses, and retain memories, prejudices and biases developed during their formative exposures to the Indian military establishment. Our exposure and interaction with foreign troops on UN missions and while attending foreign courses completes the abysmal picture. One has only to casually ask Bangladeshi officers who invariably staff UN Provost / Military Police units, and civilians working for the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS), to hear humiliating instances about the increasingly pedestrian morality and ethical standards of Indian troops on UN missions.
If one examines the pictures of the Indo-British 'professional' interaction, especially the one depicting the flag bearers and rifle escorts from the two armies, the shameful and shameless ad-hocism is evident in the ceremonials and 'pageantry'. Why should the national flags of both countries be 'paraded', by military personnel cross-dressed in battle fatigues with white gloves and berets (Indian Army Other Ranks are not allowed to don berets in combat fatigues)? Protocol-wise this is reserved for meetings of Heads of State. In fact the Brits have played along as evident by their rifle escorts also carrying INSAS rifles for the photo-op. This is typical of the 'event-management' culture that has taken root in the Indian Army. The 'in'-famously viral audio clip of an Indian Army soldier berating his superiors with damningly true accusations of hypocrisy and sycophancy sums up the sad state of affairs.
The musical chairs being scheduled for Army Commanders at the end of June or July that Broadsword has spoken of in a later post, is perhaps an epitome of the professional decline of the Indian Army for the reasons mentioned by Gabbar - the pro-rata regime, the quantified selection process and a decadent appraisal culture. The Army cannot find an Army Commander capable of taking over Northern Command without reshuffling incumbent Army Commanders! Thank the infantry for the same - as they say 'if you are commissioned into the infantry and continue to pay your mess bills in time, you will retire atleast as a Brigadier; if you pass your Part B and Part D exams, the pro-rata Gods will sweep you up the hierarchy irrespective of your merit'.