India, US armies now join hands to boost defence medical and strategic cooperation

New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS) Apart from the recently conducted joint military exercises between the armed forces of India and the US, senior Indian army officers arrived in America to study the medical facilities of the US military and boost defence medical cooperation and strategic cooperation between the two countries, Ministry of Defence officials said on Sunday.

Taking to its official X account, the Ministry of Defence said: "A delegation of #AFMS officers, led by @dgafms_mod Surg Vice Adm Arti Sarin, visited US Armed Forces Medical Facilities in Honolulu, Hawaii. During the visit, the team engaged in staff-level talks, shared best practices in Military, Marine, and Aviation Medicine, and explored ways to enhance medical participation in bilateral exercises between India and the US. The visit strengthened defence medical cooperation and strategic collaboration."

During this visit to the US, special discussions were held on marine medicine and aviation medicine.

Marine medicine is for Naval personnel deployed at the sea while aviation medicine proves helpful for experts deployed in the Air Force, astronauts and other such missions.

According to the Ministry of Defence, a delegation of senior officers of the Indian Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS), led by Director General and Surgeon Vice Admiral Arti Sarin, has arrived in the US.

The Indian delegation is in Honolulu, Hawaii, on a study tour of US Armed Forces medical facilities.

During the visit, the Indian delegation held military staff-level talks with the US defence medical officials.

The talks between the two countries shared the best practices in specialised areas such as military medicine, marine medicine and aviation medicine.

Besides, the issue of increasing medical cooperation in bilateral military exercises between the two countries was also discussed in detail.

The Ministry of Defence said the delegation inspected US military medical installations and gained an in-depth understanding of the state-of-the-art medical infrastructure, emergency medical care, and medical management of troops during deployment.

The Indian delegation also shared its experiences and practices, which further strengthened mutual understanding and trust between the two countries in this area.

On this occasion, senior army officials acknowledged that cooperation between India and the US in the defence medical sector is not only important for the health security of the security personnel but also provides a new direction to the strategic partnership between the two countries.

The Ministry of Defence described the visit as an important step towards deepening and broadening defence medical cooperation.

Recently, a major military exercise 'Yudh Abhyas 2025' has been successfully conducted between the armies of India and the US in Alaska, which concluded on September 14.

The exercise involved practicing modern warfare techniques, including electronic warfare, surveillance, use of counter-drone systems and other unmanned aerial systems and methods of dealing with them.

Under this programme, both armies conducted training operations in mountainous and snow-capped high altitude areas.

--IANS

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