Exercise Desert Cyclone is a joint military exercise between India and:
- (a)Kuwait
- (b)Saudi Arabia
- (c)United Arab Emirates
- (d)Oman
Correct — C, the United Arab Emirates. Exercise Desert Cyclone was the inaugural bilateral joint military exercise between the Indian Army and the Land Forces of the United Arab Emirates, held in January 2024 at Mahajan in Rajasthan, focusing on urban operations and interoperability. The exercise name pairs India with the UAE, so option (c) is right.
- (a)Kuwait — India and Kuwait do not conduct an exercise named Desert Cyclone; this is not the UAE drill.
- (b)Saudi Arabia — The India-Saudi Arabia army exercise is 'Sada Tanseeq', not Desert Cyclone, which is the India-UAE exercise.
- (d)Oman — India-Oman exercises are the army drill 'Al Nagah' and the naval 'Naseem Al Bahr' / air 'Eastern Bridge' — not Desert Cyclone.
Desert Cyclone is a bilateral army-to-army exercise between India and the United Arab Emirates, first conducted in January 2024. Its first edition at Mahajan, Rajasthan, rehearsed sub-conventional and urban-warfare operations and marked a deepening of India-UAE defence ties within India's wider Gulf engagement.
These questions test whether you can attach the right partner country to a named exercise. The Gulf partners each have distinct India exercises, so learn the pairings — Desert Cyclone with the UAE, Sada Tanseeq with Saudi Arabia, Al Nagah with Oman — rather than guessing from the desert theme.
- Exercise Desert Cyclone is an India-United Arab Emirates army exercise; its first edition ran in January 2024.
- The inaugural edition was held at Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan.
- India-UAE also hold the naval exercise 'Zayed Talwar' and the air exercise 'Desert Flag' (multinational).
- The exercise reflected growing India-UAE strategic and defence cooperation alongside trade under their 2022 free-trade agreement (CEPA).
Desert Cyclone pairs India with the UAE; the other Gulf partners have differently named drills.
- Guessing from the word 'desert' — several Gulf states are desert countries, but only the UAE is Desert Cyclone's partner.
- Mixing up Desert Cyclone (UAE) with Sada Tanseeq (Saudi Arabia) or Al Nagah (Oman).
Asked as a direct 'which country is the partner' recall — memorise the exercise-to-country pairing.
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 — Mitra Shakti-2023 was an India-Sri Lanka (not Bangladesh) exercise that began at Aundh, Pune, so statement 1 is wrong.
The same 'identify the joint military exercise and its partner country' skill — here UPSC hinged the answer on statement 1 naming the wrong partner (Bangladesh instead of Sri Lanka), exactly the trap Desert Cyclone tests.
- practice — not a real PYQ
Exercise 'Sada Tanseeq', a bilateral army exercise, is conducted between India and which country?
- (a)United Arab Emirates
- (b)Saudi Arabia
- (c)Qatar
- (d)Egypt
Answer(b) Saudi Arabia — Sada Tanseeq is the India-Saudi Arabia army exercise, distinct from Desert Cyclone with the UAE.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The first-ever India-UAE bilateral army exercise 'Desert Cyclone' (January 2024) was held in which Indian state?
- (a)Gujarat
- (b)Rajasthan
- (c)Punjab
- (d)Haryana
Answer(b) Rajasthan — the inaugural edition was conducted at the Mahajan ranges in Rajasthan.