India has traditionally maintained a nonaligned status, even during the Cold War, but in recent years there appears to be a warming between American and Indian military forces as numerous exchanges have taken place with both Special Forces teams and conventional units. One such exercise was the recently completed Yudh Abhyas 2022 exercise conducted at India's high-altitude training center.
1st Squadron, 40th Cavalry Regiment also known as the Denali Squadron deployed within a hundred miles of the Chinese border in Auli, India for a 18-day exercise with the Indian military. While there they received classes on altitude sickness, cross-trained with their Indian partners on tactics, mountain climbing, IED threats, and more.
The exercise culminated with a full-blown field training exercise in which Denali Squadron partnered up with India's 9th Battalion of the Assam Regiment.
Together the two units conducted a tactical movement and executed a direct action training mission in which they raided an "enemy" hideout looking for a high-value target. They then moved on to conducting a zone reconnaissance mission, followed by a humanitarian training mission in which the soldiers had to respond to an avalanche scenario that left the local population in danger.
Perhaps the the significance of the training partnership between American and Indian military forces can best be summed up by the Chinese government's response. China’s Ministry of National Defense spokesperson, Zhao Lijian objected to Yudh Abhyas 2022 stating that the exercise, "violated the spirit of relevant agreements signed by China and India in 1993 and 1996, and does not help build bilateral trust.” The Indian government dismissed China's objections.
The Yudh Abhyas exercise is written into the latest National Defense Authorization Act as intended, "to advance the shared objective of a free and open Indo-Pacific region through bilateral and multilateral engagements and participation in military exercises, expanded defense trade, and collaboration on humanitarian aid and disaster response."