India and Kazakhstan are set to begin the fifth edition of their joint training exercise KAZIND-21 in Kazakhstan.

The 13-day military exercise will be held at Training Node, Aisha Bibi, from 30 August to 11 September.

During the exercise, the two forces will train for counter insurgency/ counter terrorism operations in mountainous and rural scenarios under UN mandate.

In a statement last week, Indian Ministry of Defence said: “The scope of Joint Exercise includes professional exchange, planning & execution of operation in Counter terrorism environment at sub unit level and sharing expertise on skills at arms, combat shooting and experiences in Counter Insurgency/ Counter Terrorism operations.

“The exercise will culminate after a 48 hours long validation exercise which will involve a scenario of neutralisation of terrorists in a semi-rural hideout.”

The Indian contingent will include 90 personnel from a battalion of The Bihar Regiment, while the Kazakh side will be represented by a company group.

The joint training is expected to boost interoperability and mutual confidence between the two forces. It will also enable sharing of best practices between the two sides as well as strengthen the bilateral relations between the two countries.

Recently, Indian Army received the first batch of locally manufactured Multi-Mode Hand Grenades (MMHG). MMHG can be used in both defensive (fragmentation) and offensive (stun) modes.