US Ambassador Sergio Gor visited the Mahajan Field Firing Range in Rajasthan on September 24, 2026, during the India-US Yudh Abhyas exercise, according to Akashvani. He presented the joint training as a reflection of the defence relationship between the two countries.
The exercise's official opening release supplies a more concrete account of what the troops were there to practise. The 22nd edition began at Auli in Uttarakhand on September 15, with 600 personnel from each army, and was being conducted simultaneously at Auli and Mahajan.
The Defence Ministry identified infantry-dominated operations in mountainous and semi-mountainous terrain, joint planning and the employment of integrated battle groups as training priorities. It also listed drones and autonomous systems for surveillance and reconnaissance, with contemporary weapon-system demonstrations at Mahajan.
These elements address different parts of working together. Reconnaissance supplies information about an operating area; shared planning determines how that information informs a coordinated action. Demonstrating equipment is consequently not the same task as rehearsing the procedures by which two forces would use information and act together.
The two-location programme combines terrain-specific work with procedural exchange and emerging technology. Auli and Mahajan give the participating units different settings in which to connect reconnaissance, planning and movement.
