India, Nepal joint exercise from March 7

New Delhi, March 1 (IANS) India and Nepal will conduct the 11th Surya Kiran joint exercise from March 7 to March 20, focussing on counter-insurgency drills, an official said on Tuesday.

The infantry battalion-level joint exercise will be conducted at Pithoragarh, in Uttarakhand, said an official statement here.

The Surya Kiran exercise is an annual exercise, conducted alternately in India and Nepal.

The statement said the exercise aims at promoting military relations and increasing interoperability in conducting joint counter-insurgency operations in mountainous terrain.

"Both armies stand to benefit mutually from each other’s experience in fighting insurgency, environmental conservation, humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) etc," the statement said.