India to Host 18-Nation Mega Army Joint Exercise with ASEAN Members and Dialogue Partners
In what is slated to be the
first-of-its-kind in scale, the Indian Army will hold a joint military
exercise next year with 17 nations that include all the 10 member
nations of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and eight
dialogue partners -- including India -- of the regional strategic group
Senior officials in the Ministry of Defence (MoD) told dna that the
exercise details are being worked out and it is likely to take place in
Pune in the first week of March.
The Field Training Exercise (FTX-2016) will be a week-long engagement
among the armies of the 18 nations over coordination, primarily on
de-mining, and the entire activity will be a part of the larger roadmap
of military humanitarian understanding in the years to come between
India and ASEAN members and affiliates.
Cambodia, Brunei, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Thailand are ASEAN member nations.
Officials said that the dialogue partners apart from India, namely,
China, Japan, South Korea, the US, Australia, New Zealand and Russia,
are being coordinated with over their participation.
The army's mega-exercise will follow a grand Naval exercise in February
next, at Vishakapatnam, where close to 50 country's navies will come
together for a five-day-long display of prowess and maritime
capabilities.
The Indian Army, has recently concluded a joint 'hand-in-hand' exercise
with the Chinese army at China's Kunming Military Academy and a
two-week-long joint training in counter-terrorism operations with the
Russian army at Suratgarh in Rajasthan.
No comments:
Post a Comment