The exercise was held over Thursday and Friday
The Indian Army has carried out a large-scale airborne exercise involving 600 paratroopers near the strategic Siliguri Corridor, a narrow stretch close to the China border. The exercise tested the readiness of rapid response teams.
“Around 600 paratroopers of the Indian Army's airborne rapid response teams carried out large-scale airdrops near the Siliguri Corridor after being airlifted from various airbases,” an Indian Army officer told news agency PTI.
A video, shared by news agency ANI, shows several paratroopers jumping off a plane. The visuals were shot by one of the personnel participating in the exercise. As the personnel jumps off the plane, several parachutes can be seen deployed across the skyline. The session was held over Thursday and Friday.
“The exercise involved advanced free-fall techniques; insertion, surveillance, targeting practice, and seizing of key objectives by going behind enemy lines,” the Army officer said.
The Siliguri Corridor connects the northeastern states with the rest of India. The corridor, which borders Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, is a key route to ensure uninterrupted supplies to the region.
This was the second such military exercise within a month and coincided with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's two-day visit to India, the first since the Galwan Valley clashes.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar held a three-hour-long meeting with Wang yesterday. Later, he described the India-China ties as “work in progress at a slower pace than desirable”.