India, Sept. 16 -- A joint military exercise -- 'Yudh Abhyas' -- involving the troops of Indian and US armies, which seeks to bolster interoperability among the two forces and address emerging challenges while further strengthening the bilateral defence partnership, kicked off on Tuesday.

The opening ceremony of the 22nd edition of the exercise was held at Auli Foreign Training Node in Uttarakhand. The exercise is simultaneously being conducted at Auli and Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan, the Indian defence ministry said.

"The exercise is aimed at enhancing the joint military capability of both armies for employment of Integrated Battle Groups in mountainous and semi-mountainous terrain, with emphasis on infantry-dominated opera...