The United Arab Emirates and India have begun a joint military exercise in Mahajan in the northern state of Rajasthan. The drills would conclude on January 15.

Forty-five soldiers each from UAE’s Zayed First Brigade and Indian army’s Mechanised Infantry Regiment are taking part in the exercise titled ‘Desert Cyclone-I’, said a statement from the Indian Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

The two-week drill aims to “enhance cooperation and interoperability between both sides during peacekeeping operations.”

Exercises between the armed forces of the two countries have been frequent since the two countries signed a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2017, Arab News reported.

So far, however, they have involved only their navies and air forces, India’s Ambassador to the UAE Sunjay Sudhir told the news outlet on Wednesday.

“Desert Cyclone, which started yesterday, is the first army-to-army bilateral exercise,” he said and added that military exercises were a “sign of the growing and diversified strategic partnership between India and the UAE.”

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In the recent past, the ties between the two countries have increased.

Last year, India signed an agreement with the United Arab Emirates that would allow it to settle trade in rupees instead of dollars.

The two countries also agreed to set up a real-time payment link to facilitate easier cross-border money transfers.

The agreements will enable “seamless cross-border transactions and payments, and foster greater economic cooperation”, said a statement from the Reserve Bank of India on Saturday.