20,000 Indian Troops Conduct Exercises Near Pakistan’s Border

Formations of South Western Command are carrying out exercises VIJAY PRAHAR near the border with Pakistan, the Indian Ministry of Defense reported on May 1.

According to the statement, the exercises employ more than 20000 troops, cut edge equipment and condition of the art force multipliers in the Mahajan Field Firing Ranges close to Suratgarh in Rajasthan.

“The exercise is aimed to orchestrate wide spectrum of threats which are planned to be tackled through high tempo joint air and land operation involving hundreds of aircrafts, thousands of tanks and artillery pieces supported by real time intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and just in time logistic support,” the statement reads.

The exercise will continue for a month to practice manoeuvres across the obstacle ridden terrain under a nuclear umbrella. During the exercise, the formations are operationalizing new concepts of “operating in the network centric environment, integrated employment of modern sensors with the weapon platforms, employment of attack helicopters in the air cavalry role and bold offensive of application of the Special Forces.”

India and Pakistan often accuse each other of ceasefire violations along the Line of Control (LoC), a former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. These border casualties heighten tensions between the two neighboring countries, strained after the terror attacks by Pakistan-based groups in 2016 and India’s surgical strikes inside disputed Kashmir.

On May 2, one person died while four others were injured after a gunfight broke out between security forces and terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian district, India TV reported.

On May 3, massive protests in south Kashmir’s Shopian were carrying out after a boy was killed in firing by security forces on May 2.

According to the annual report of the Indian Ministry of Home Affairs for 2017-18 released in April, in 2017, there were 342 violent incidents in Jammu and Kashmir in which 80 security personnel, 40 civilians and 213 terrorists were killed. The first four months of 2018 has already witnessed 100 deaths, including 55 militants, 20 security personnel and 25 civilians.