India, Japan armies to engage in Dharma Guardian in Belagavi

The joint military wargame will culminate on March 10. It is an annual exercise between two countries initiated in 2018. The scope of this exercise will cover platoon level joint training on operations in jungle and semi urban and urban terrain.

The land forces of India and Japan will commence their joint military exercise, Dharma Guardian at Foreign Training Node in Karnataka’s Belagavi from February 27. The joint military wargame will culminate on March 10. It is an annual exercise between two countries initiated in 2018.

The exercise with Japan is crucial and significant in terms of security challenges faced by both nations in the backdrop of current global situation, Indian Army spokesperson Col Sudhir Chamoli said.  The scope of this exercise will cover platoon level joint training on operations in jungle and semi urban and urban terrain.

From Indian side, Army’s 15th Battalion the Maratha Light Infantry Regiment and 30th Infantry Regiment of Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces (JGSDF) will be participating in the exercise this year.  The participating soldiers will share their experiences gained during operations in order to enhance inter-operability in planning & execution of various operations in jungle and semi urban and urban terrain. 

The 12 days long joint exercise schedule includes house interventions drills, raid on terrorist hideouts in semi urban terrain, combat first aid, unarmed combat and close quarter combat firing where both sides will jointly train, plan and execute a series of well-developed tactical drills for neutralisation of likely threats.  The joint field training exercises, joint combat discussions and joint demonstrations will culminate with a two day validation exercise scheduled on March 08 and 09.

“Exercise Dharma Guardian” will enhance the level of defence co-operation between Indian Army and Japanese Ground Self Defence Forces, which in turn will further foster the bilateral relations between the two nations.