Exercise Trishul: When October ended, satellite watchers around the world noticed something unusual over western India. In the skies above Gujarat and Rajasthan and deep inside the Arabian Sea, India’s armed forces began a war exercise unlike any in recent memory. Tanks rumbled through the Thar Desert, warships cut through monsoon-grey waves and fighter jets streaked across the horizon. This is Exercise Trishul, a massive tri-services drill involving the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force.

At first, the scale was difficult to grasp. More than 50,000 troops have been mobilised. Fighter squadrons from the South Western Air Command joined naval formations from the Western Naval Command, while Army units under the Southern Command began coordinated maneuvers across Gujarat and Rajasthan. For th

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