9                                          Defence
            ENHANCING safety and security of the country, providing humanitarian assistance and
      disaster relief during natural and man-made disasters, modernisation of the Armed Forces and
      supporting indigenisation and manufacturing of defence equipment through the ‘Make-in-India’
      initiative have been the main features of the Ministry of Defence.
            The security situation in Jammu and Kashmir despite a lot of challenges has been brought
      under control. Relentless operations by the army both, along the Line of Control and in the
      hinterland have thwarted the designs of giving a fillip to the proxy war being waged against
      India. Army along with CAPF and JKP continues to put in pressure to bring back normalcy to
      the Kashmir Valley. Intelligence based operations were launched along Indo-Myanmar border to
      maintain peace in the region and to effectively neutralise the terrorists. Indian Army continued
      with the people friendly operations to help the locals.
            Second edition of ‘Al Nagah’ the joint exercise between the Indian and Oman Armies was
      held at Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh. Both armies shared valuable combat expertise on countering
      terrorist operations in an international environment. ‘Surya Kiran-XI’ was held wherein, infantry
      battalion of Indian Army and Durga Bahsh Battalion of Nepalese Army participated. Eleventh
      such battalion level exercise between the two countries aimed at training of troops in counter
      insurgency operations in mountainous terrain. It formally incorporated issues related to
      humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) and helped enhance defence co-operation
      and military relations between the two countries.
            Twelfth edition of Indo-Mongolian Joint Military Exercise ‘Nomadic Elephant’ was held at
      Vairengte. Mongolian Army was represented by soldiers of the elite Special Forces Task
      Battalion while Indian Army was represented by a contingent of the Jammu and Kashmir Rifles.
      The exercise was aimed at training the troops in counter insurgency and counter terrorism
      operations under the United Nations mandate. As part of the Indo-US defence cooperation, a
      joint military training, exercise ‘Yudh Abhyas-2017’ was conducted in USA. The theme of the
      exercise was to build and develop military relations and interoperability for conducting counter
      terrorism, regional security operations and peace keeping operations under UN Charter. The fifth
      Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Training Exercise ‘Mitra Shakti 2017’ was conducted in Pune. The exercise
      focused on counter terrorism operations in semi urban terrain.
            First ever tri service exercise ‘Indra’ between India and Russia was conducted in Russia.
      Indo-Bangladesh exercise ‘Sampriti’ was conducted in Vairengte. It was aimed at carrying out
      operations against terrorists and insurgents on the lines of those in the J&K and NE. Indo-UK
      Joint Military Exercise. Indo-UK Exercise ‘Ajeya Warrior’ was conducted in Rajasthan. The
      training contingent comprised one company each from the Indian and British Army. The aim of
      the exercise was to build and promote bilateral relations and enhance interoperability while
      sharing experiences in counter terrorism and counter insurgency operations between the two
      countries.
            As part of first military training being imparted by Indian Army to women officers from
      abroad, women officers of Afghan Army and Airforce were trained on basic military aspects