The India-U.S joint exercise in conducting coordinated operations in urban counter terrorism contingencies will conclude in Kolkata on Wednesday.
The seventh edition of the Indo-U.S. joint counter terrorism exercise ”Tarkash”, between the elite National Security Guard (NSG) and the U.S. Special Operations Forces (SOF) commenced on April 22.
“The three-week exercise encompassed intense training and mock drills in urban counter terrorism scenarios. The primary objective of the bilateral exercise is to build functional relation and enhance interoperability between the two special forces in conducting coordinated counter terror operations in urban counter terrorism contingencies. The exercise is also aimed at improving bilateral cooperation between India and the U.S. in matters relating to combating terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations,” a statement said.
The previous edition of the exercise was conducted at Chennai in January 2023.
“During joint exercise, both special forces conducted joint mock counter terror drills at multiple locations in Kolkata, to enhance interoperability and coordination between the two special forces. The joint exercise also involved sharing of best practices, tactics, techniques and procedures, over a wide spectrum of counter terror operations, in urban environment including close quarter battle, building intervention drills, hostage rescue operations, surveillance, long range sniping and planning complex operations involving multiple targets in multiple locations,” the statement added.
The NSG and the SOF conduct regular exchanges in various aspects of the counter terrorist operations, as part of bilateral mutual counter terrorism capacity building initiatives and mechanism.
