Surya Kiran, the 15th India-Nepal combined battalion level military training exercise commenced at Pithoragarh. The joint military exercise would culminate on October 3. On Monday an opening ceremony was organized to mark the commencement of the exercise in which both contingents marched in harmony to the Indian and Nepali military tunes.

The General Officer Commanding (GOC), Uttar Bharat Area Lieutenant General S S Mahal addressed the gathering and exhorted the contingents to train and strengthen mutual confidence, interoperability and also to share best practices.

The Nepali Army contingent arrived at Pithoragarh and was accorded a traditional military reception. Around 650 DEFENCE personnel from both the Armies are participating in the event. In the exercise, an Infantry Battalion each from the Indian Army and the Nepali Army will be training together to develop inter-operability and share their experience of counter terrorism operations and disaster relief operations.