Source : The Economic Times

A bilateral tri-service humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) exercise named Tiger Triumph-24 between India and the United States commenced on the Eastern Seaboard on March 18 and will continue until March 31. This exercise, aimed at enhancing readiness and cooperation between the two forces, is part of the ongoing partnership between India and the US.

Exercise Overview

• Purpose: The exercise is designed to improve interoperability for conducting HADR operations and refine Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to enable rapid and smooth coordination between the armed forces of both countries.
• Participants: Indian Navy Ships with integral helicopters and landing crafts embarked, Indian Navy aircraft, Indian Army personnel and vehicles, Indian Air Force aircraft and helicopters, along with the Rapid Action Medical Team (RAMT) will be participating from the Indian side. The US will be represented by US Navy Ships with embarked troops of the US Marine Corps and US Army.

Exercise Phases and Activities

• Harbour Phase (March 18 – March 25): This phase involves Training Visits, Subject Matter Expert Exchanges, Sports Events, and Social Interactions among personnel from both navies.
• Sea Phase (March 25 – March 31): Participating ships, with embarked troops, will undertake Maritime, Amphibious, and HADR operations based on simulated scenarios.

Previous Exercises and Alliances

• In 2019, the first Tiger Triumph exercise took place for a period of nine days.
• The United States also participated in Milan-24, an Indian Navy-initiated multilateral naval exercise with 50 other countries held in February.
• On March 8, both countries participated in Sea-Defenders 2024, an Indian and US Coast Guard cooperative maritime security exercise in Port Blair.

Rajnath Singh and Lloyd Austin Discuss Defence Cooperation

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a telephonic conversation with US Secretary of Defence Mr Lloyd Austin on March 18, 2024. Both Ministers briefly discussed a range of bilateral, regional security and defence cooperation issues. They reviewed the recent bilateral events such as the INDUS-X Summit held in New Delhi in February 2024, and the bilateral Tri-Service exercise ‘Tiger Triumph’ which has also commenced in India on March 18, 2024.

The US Secretary of Defence appreciated the important role being played by the Indian Navy in conducting anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean Region. The two Ministers discussed ways and means to implement the India-US Defence Cooperation Roadmap which was concluded last year. Other defence industrial cooperation issues such as repair of US naval ships in Indian shipyards were also briefly discussed.

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Both the Ministers had last met in New Delhi in November 2023 during the India-US Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue.