Indian and United States Army soldiers were trained jointly on the howitzers and Chinook helicopters during their ongoing Yudh Abhyas 2019 exercise at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
The exercise 'Yudh Abhyas' started on September 5 and will continue till September 18.
It is a part of the ongoing Indo-US defence cooperation.
Indian Army posted a video of soldiers of both countries singing and dancing on Assam Regiment's marching song 'Badluram ka badan zameen ke neeche hai' (Badluram's body is under the ground).
Badluram, a rifleman in the Assam Regiment, was killed during World War II. But the quarter master continued to take ration in his name. When the Japanese Army surrounded the soldiers and cut off their supplies, they survived on the ration taken in Badluram's name.
Moreover, the lyrics of 'Badluram' are based on 'John Brown's Body', a United States marching song about the abolitionist John Brown. The song was popular in the Union during the American Civil War.
This is the 15th edition of the joint exercise hosted alternately between the two countries.
Both armies are jointly training, planning and executing a series of well-developed operations for neutralisation of threats of varied nature.
Chinook and ultra-light howitzers have been acquired by India also and both would be used during Exercise HimVijay in Arunachal Pradesh near the China border in October.
In the end, a joint exercise will be undertaken by both countries in an operational setting under a United Nations mandate.
