India, Kazakhstan begin ‘KAZIND’ military exercise

• The ninth edition of India-Kazakhstan joint military exercise — KAZIND — commenced at Oskemen, Kazakhstan on September 28. It will conclude on October 11.

• The 60-member Indian contingent is drawn mainly from a battalion of the Garhwal Rifles, along with troops from other arms and services, and personnel from the Indian Air Force. 

• The Kazakhstan Armed Forces are fielding a contingent of matching strength, comprising primarily personnel from its Land Forces.

• The joint exercise between India and Kazakhstan was instituted as ‘Exercise Prabal Dostyk’ in 2016. After the second edition, the exercise was upgraded to a company-level exercise and renamed as ‘KAZIND’. It was further upgraded as a bi-service exercise by including the Air Force component.

• KAZIND 2026 will focus on joint counter-terrorism operations in semi-urban and mountainous terrain, with an emphasis on joint planning and execution, air mobility and the integrated employment of Unmanned Aerial Systems and Counter-UAS capabilities. 

• The participating contingents will train together in joint responses to terrorist actions, raids, search-and-destroy missions, cordon-and-search operations, the securing of helipads and landing sites, and special heliborne operations, among other activities.

(The author is a trainer for Civil Services aspirants.)