Why in News?

• The 17th edition of the India-U.S. bilateral exercise, Yudh Abhyas 2021, got under way at the Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson, Alaska, U.S.

About the exercise

• Exercise Yudh Abhyas is the largest running joint military training and defence cooperation endeavour between the two countries.
• The exercise aims at enhancing understanding, cooperation and inter-operability. It will focus on combined arms manoeuvres in cold climatic conditions and is primarily aimed at sharing tactical level drills and learning best practices from each other
• This is the only India-U.S. service exercise continuing in bilateral format.

Other Military Exercises with US

• Exercise Malabar:  It was started in 1992 as a bilateral exercise between the Indian and the US navies. The India-U.S. Malabar naval exercise became trilateral with the addition of Japan in 2015 and further brought in all the Quad partners together with the inclusion of Australia in 2020.
• Exercise Tiger Triumph– Tri-service military exercise between India and the US. It is the first tri-service military exercise between the two countries
• Exercise Cope India: It is a series of bilateral Air Force exercises between India and the United States. Japan joined the India-U.S. bilateral air exercise, Cope India, as an Observer in 2018 and the plan is to make it trilateral in phases.
• Exercise Vajra Prahar: It is a Special Forces joint military training exercise. It has been conducted alternately in India and the US since 2010.

 Reference: 

1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/yudh-abhyas-2021-india-us-militaries-match-skills-in-alaska/article37036882.ece