Nomadic Elephant 2026 training has moved into its hands-on phase at the Foreign Training Node in Pithoragarh, where Mongolian soldiers are picking up Indian small arms for the first time this exercise.

Nomadic Elephant 2026 training starts with small arms

The 18th edition of the India Mongolia joint military exercise series is running at Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand.

This week's schedule centred on weapon familiarisation for the visiting Mongolian Armed Forces, covering safety drills, loading and unloading, aiming technique and live firing practice, run as structured, practical blocks rather than lectures.

Indian instructors let the Mongolian side handle the weapons directly, reinforcing safe and disciplined habits at every step.

Indian Army walks through Room Intervention Drills

Away from the firing point, the Indian Army contingent staged a demonstration of Room Intervention Drills, the close quarter procedures used to clear a building room by room.

The demonstration covered systematic entry, room clearance, coordinated movement between teams, radio communication and fire discipline, along with casualty evacuation technique, before Mongolian observers watching from the sidelines got a closer look at how each phase was sequenced. Teamwork and precision mattered more than firepower.

A drill built for tight, dangerous spaces

These are the skills a soldier needs when an operation moves indoors, where visibility is poor and the margin for error is small.

Once the demonstration ended, Mongolian personnel joined in for hands-on training of their own, giving both sides a chance to compare notes on how each army handles the same problem, an exchange other joint exercises this year have also leaned on.


Wrestling and unarmed combat tell a different story

The Mongolian side returned the exchange with something entirely different.

Personnel demonstrated Bรถkh, or Mongolian Classical Wrestling, alongside unarmed combat, with grappling holds, controlled takedowns and close combat movement built on centuries of Mongolian martial tradition rather than modern doctrine.

For the Indian contingent watching, it was less a training block and more a window into a fighting culture that predates either army's current uniform.

What Nomadic Elephant 2026 is training both armies for

Exercise Nomadic Elephant 2026 runs from 21 September to 03 October 2026, with 45 personnel each from the Indian Army and the Mongolian Armed Forces taking part. The Nomadic Elephant 2026 training programme is built to end in a joint capability, not a set of separate demonstrations.

Both sides are working toward Counter Insurgency Operations in semi urban and mountainous terrain, carried out under a United Nations mandate.

Weapons drills, urban combat technique and traditional wrestling add up to one exercise in reading each other, aimed at two armies who can operate together when a real mission calls for it. The Khaan Quest series earlier this year covered similar ground on the multilateral peacekeeping side of the relationship.

Further detail on India Mongolia defence exchanges sits with the Indian Army and the Press Information Bureau.