Which one among the following Joint Military Exercises was NOT conducted between India and USA?
- (a)Yudh Abhyas
- (b)Vajra Prahar
- (c)Malabar
- (d)Varuna
Correct — D, Varuna. Varuna is the biennial BILATERAL NAVAL exercise between India and FRANCE (conducted under the name 'Varuna' since 2001), so it is the one NOT held with the United States. Every other option is an India-USA exercise.
- (a)Yudh Abhyas — Yudh Abhyas is the India-USA joint ARMY exercise, held alternately in India and the United States — so it IS conducted with the USA, not the exception.
- (b)Vajra Prahar — Vajra Prahar is the India-USA joint SPECIAL FORCES exercise — again a US exercise, so it is not the answer.
- (c)Malabar — Malabar began in 1992 as an India-USA naval exercise and today also includes Japan and Australia (the Quad navies). The USA remains a core participant, so it IS held with the USA.
The GAT regularly tests whether you can match India's named joint military exercises to their partner nation(s). The trap here is 'Malabar' (now multilateral, but still with the USA) and 'Varuna', whose Sanskrit name makes it sound purely Indian even though it is India's flagship naval exercise with France.
Reason exercise-by-exercise to the partner country. Three of the four names are US exercises across different services (army, special forces, navy); only Varuna is with France. If you recall that India's France exercises are Varuna (navy), Garuda (air force) and Shakti (army), the odd one out is immediate.
- Varuna — India-France bilateral NAVAL exercise; named 'Varuna' since 2001.
- Yudh Abhyas — India-USA ARMY exercise.
- Vajra Prahar — India-USA SPECIAL FORCES exercise.
- Malabar — naval exercise, started 1992 as India-USA; now quadrilateral (India, USA, Japan, Australia).
Only Varuna is not with the USA — it is India's naval exercise with France.
- Assuming Malabar is 'not with the USA' because it is now multilateral — the USA is a founding member.
- Reading 'Varuna' as an Indian-only drill because of the Sanskrit name (Varuna = Vedic god of the seas).
NDA and UPSC repeatedly ask 'which exercise is with which country' — memorise exercises grouped by partner nation and by service (army/navy/air force).
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The military exercise 'Garuda' is conducted between the air forces of India and which country?
- (a)USA
- (b)France
- (c)Russia
- (d)Japan
Answer(b) France — Garuda is the India-France joint air force exercise.
- practice — not a real PYQ
'Indra' is a joint military exercise between India and:
- (a)Israel
- (b)Indonesia
- (c)Russia
- (d)United Kingdom
Answer(c) Russia — Indra is the India-Russia joint exercise.