India-Nepal to hold counter insurgency drill Surya Kiran-XI from 7 to 20 March

NEW DELHI: Indo-Nepal armies will hold an infantry battalion level joint exercise ' SURYA KIRAN-XI' to practice counter insurgency drills at Pithoragarh from 07 to 20 March 2017, said a defence release today.

"SURYA KIRAN is conducted every year, alternatively in India and Nepal, with an aim to promote military relations while 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," read the statement.

The release said that this kind of mutual interactions have the potential to further strengthen cultural and historical ties between the two nations and take the bilateral relations forward.