Joint Military exercise 'Keen Sword 23' was conducted between :
- (a)India and Japan
- (b)India and USA
- (c)USA and Japan
- (d)Japan and Taiwan
Correct — C, USA and Japan. 'Keen Sword' is the large biennial joint field-training exercise between the armed forces of the United States and Japan — the US military and the Japan Self-Defense Forces. The 2023 edition, 'Keen Sword 23', was held in and around Japan in November 2022, ahead of the April 2023 exam, to strengthen the two allies' combined readiness under the US–Japan security alliance. It does not involve India or Taiwan, so the correct pairing is USA and Japan.
- (a)India and Japan — India and Japan hold their own exercises (such as the 'Dharma Guardian' army drill and the 'JIMEX' naval exercise), but Keen Sword is not one of them — it is a US–Japan exercise.
- (b)India and USA — India and the USA conduct exercises like 'Yudh Abhyas' and 'Malabar' (the latter also with Japan and Australia), but Keen Sword is bilateral between the USA and Japan, not India and the USA.
- (d)Japan and Taiwan — Keen Sword is a US–Japan exercise. Japan and Taiwan do not conduct a joint military exercise by this name.
Keen Sword is a biennial bilateral military exercise between the United States and Japan, alternating with the command-post exercise 'Keen Edge'. It rehearses the combined defence of Japan under the US–Japan alliance, involving ground, naval and air forces of both countries.
For 'which countries hold Exercise X' questions, anchor each named exercise to its partners. Keen Sword pairs the USA and Japan. Watch the near-namesakes: Malabar (India, USA, Japan and Australia) and Yudh Abhyas (India and the USA) both involve the USA but are different exercises with India.
- Keen Sword is a biennial joint exercise of the United States and Japan (US forces and the Japan Self-Defense Forces).
- Keen Sword 23 was conducted in November 2022, in and around Japan.
- It alternates with 'Keen Edge', the US–Japan command-post exercise.
- It is held under the US–Japan security alliance to test combined defence readiness.
- Assuming any exercise India studies for must involve India — Keen Sword is US–Japan only.
- Confusing Keen Sword with Malabar, which does include Japan and the USA, plus India and Australia.
Current-affairs items name a recent military exercise and ask for its participating countries — keep a running list of exercise-to-partner pairings from the exam year.
Which of the following statements about 'Exercise Mitra Shakti-2023' are correct? 1. This was a joint military exercise between India and Bangladesh. 2. It commenced in Aundh (Pune). 3. Joint response during counter-terrorism operations was a goal of this operation. 4. Indian Air Force was a part of this exercise. Select the answer using the code given below :
- (a) 1, 2 and 3
- (b) 1, 2 and 4
- (c) 1, 3 and 4
- (d) 2, 3 and 4
Answer(d) 2, 3 and 4
Same current-affairs skill — identifying the partners and details of a named joint military exercise (here Mitra Shakti was India–Sri Lanka, not Bangladesh).
Exercise Desert Cyclone is a joint military exercise between India and:
- (a) Kuwait
- (b) Saudi Arabia
- (c) United Arab Emirates
- (d) Oman
Answer(c) United Arab Emirates
The identical question shape — naming the two countries behind a joint military exercise, exactly what this Keen Sword item tests.
'Naseem-Al-Bahr' is a bilateral naval exercise between India and
- (a) United Arab Emirates
- (b) Iran
- (c) Saudi Arabia
- (d) Oman
Answer(d) Oman
Another 'name the participants of a bilateral exercise' item — the same recall skill applied to a naval exercise.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The 'Malabar' naval exercise is conducted among which group of countries?
- (a)India, USA, Japan and Australia
- (b)India and Japan only
- (c)USA and Japan only
- (d)India, Russia and China
Answer(a) India, USA, Japan and Australia — Malabar grew from an India–US drill into a Quad naval exercise.
- practice — not a real PYQ
'Yudh Abhyas' is a joint military exercise between India and:
- (a)Japan
- (b)United States
- (c)Russia
- (d)France
Answer(b) United States — Yudh Abhyas is the India–US joint army exercise.