DHARMA GUARDIAN – 2019: Indo-Japan Joint Military Exercise

India and Japan will be holding a two-week-long joint military exercise called Dharma Guardian-2019 in Mizoram from 19 October to 2 November 2019. This Joint Military Exercise will be conducted at Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School in Vairengte, Mizoram.

About Exercise Dharma Guardian

It is an annual training event, which is being conducted in India since 2018.

Objective:

• To increase interoperability between forces of two nations and enhance coordination in dealing with various security challenges including counter-terrorism
• To cover platoon-level joint training on counter-terrorism operations in jungle and urban scenario

Participants: Indian Army and Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces (JGSDF) comprising 25 soldiers each, will participate in exercise aimed at sharing experience gained during various Counter-Terrorism Operations in respective Countries.

Significance: In the backdrop of global terrorism, the exercise is crucial and significant in terms of security challenges faced by both nations. The joint military exercise will enhance level of defence co-operation between Indian Army and Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces (JGSDF) which in turn will further foster bilateral relations between two nations.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2019