Joint special forces exercise 'KHANJAR–XII' was held in March 2025 between India and which of the following Countries ? 1. Russia 2. Turkmenistan 3. Kyrgyzstan 4. Mongolia Select the correct answer from the code given below : Code :
- (a)2 and 3
- (b)Only 3
- (c)3 and 4
- (d)Only 1
Correct — B, Only 3 (Kyrgyzstan). KHANJAR is the bilateral special-forces exercise of the Indian Army and the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic, and its twelfth edition, KHANJAR-XII, ran from 10 to 23 March 2025 at Tokmok in Kyrgyzstan. The Indian contingent was drawn from the Parachute Regiment (Special Forces) and the Kyrgyz side fielded its 'Scorpion' Brigade. The drills covered counter-terrorism, mountain and urban warfare, hostage rescue, close-quarter battle and precision sniping. Because Kyrgyzstan is statement 3 and it is the only partner country, the answer is 'Only 3'. The series began in 2011 and alternates between the two countries.
- (a)2 and 3 — Statement 3 (Kyrgyzstan) is right, but statement 2 (Turkmenistan) is not. KHANJAR is a strictly bilateral India-Kyrgyzstan series, and India has no standing bilateral army exercise of this name with Turkmenistan. Adding a second Central Asian republic is the classic 'plausible neighbour' trap in a code question.
- (c)3 and 4 — Mongolia (statement 4) is a genuine Indian exercise partner, but the India-Mongolia army exercise is NOMADIC ELEPHANT, not KHANJAR. Two real exercises are being cross-wired here — the country is right for the Indian Army's calendar, wrong for this exercise name.
- (d)Only 1 — Russia is India's partner in INDRA (and India has taken part in the multinational Russian-hosted ZAPAD drills), but not in KHANJAR. Russia is the most familiar Indian defence partner, which is exactly why it is placed first in the list.
Codenamed joint military exercises are a fixed, high-yield slice of the current-affairs syllabus: each name is tied to one partner country (or one grouping) and to one service. KHANJAR - Persian/Urdu for 'dagger' - is the Indian Army's special-forces exercise with Kyrgyzstan, running since 2011 and hosted alternately by the two countries. Kyrgyzstan matters to India as a Central Asian partner and a fellow SCO member; it also belongs to the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, which India does not, and the high-altitude Tian Shan terrain around Tokmok makes it a natural venue for mountain-warfare training.
The reliable way to crack these questions is to memorise the exercise name to country pairing, not the year or the venue - UPPSC's distractor set is always built from OTHER real Indian exercise partners. Here the four names offered (Russia, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia) are all countries India engages militarily in some form, so a candidate who only remembers 'a Central Asian country' can still be pulled to option (a). Fix the pair KHANJAR = Kyrgyzstan and the code answers itself: only one statement can be true, so the answer must be a 'Only' option, and among those only (b) names Kyrgyzstan.
- KHANJAR-XII, the 12th India-Kyrgyzstan joint special forces exercise, was held 10-23 March 2025 at Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan
- Indian contingent: Parachute Regiment (Special Forces); Kyrgyz contingent: the 'Scorpion' Brigade
- Focus areas: counter-terrorism, mountain and urban warfare, hostage rescue, close-quarter battle, precision sniping
- The KHANJAR series began in 2011 and is hosted alternately by India and Kyrgyzstan
- Distractor pairs to fix: India-Russia = INDRA; India-Mongolia = NOMADIC ELEPHANT
KHANJAR is bilateral and Kyrgyz-only, so exactly one statement is true — 'Only 3'.
- Marking a second country because the question lists four plausible partners — KHANJAR is strictly bilateral
- Swapping exercise names between real partners (NOMADIC ELEPHANT is Mongolia, not Kyrgyzstan)
- Assuming any India-Russia drill must be the answer simply because Russia is the better-known defence partner
UPPSC asks the pairing straight — 'Exercise X was held between India and which country' — and hides it in a statement code; UPSC prefers a multi-statement version that also tests the venue, the services involved and the stated objective (see its 2024 Mitra Shakti question).
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
Exactly the same concept — identifying the partner country of a codenamed joint military exercise, with other real Indian partners planted as distractors. There the trap is 'Bangladesh' for what was actually an India-Sri Lanka drill; here it is Russia/Mongolia for what is actually an India-Kyrgyzstan drill.
Which Indian Naval Ship participated in Exercise Cutlass Express, 2021 ?
- (a) INS Vikrant
- (b) INS Magar
- (c) INS Talwar
- (d) INS Vikramaditya
Answer(c) INS Talwar
UPPSC's standing habit of testing a named joint exercise from the year's defence news. The 2021 paper asked which Indian warship joined Exercise Cutlass Express; the 2025 paper asks which country joined Exercise KHANJAR-XII — same revision drill, different variable.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The joint military exercise 'NOMADIC ELEPHANT' is conducted between India and which country?
- (a)Kyrgyzstan
- (b)Mongolia
- (c)Kazakhstan
- (d)Nepal
Answer(b) Mongolia — the India-Kyrgyzstan special-forces exercise is KHANJAR, and India-Nepal is SURYA KIRAN.
- practice — not a real PYQ
With reference to Exercise KHANJAR, consider the following statements: 1. It is a joint special forces exercise between the armies of India and Kyrgyzstan. 2. It is hosted only in India. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
- (a)Only 1
- (b)Only 2
- (c)Both 1 and 2
- (d)Neither 1 nor 2
Answer(a) Only 1 — the series, running since 2011, is hosted alternately by India and Kyrgyzstan; the 2025 edition was at Tokmok in Kyrgyzstan.