Indo-French joint Army exercise Shakti 2013 begins today

New Delhi: In a bid to further strengthen the existing Indo-French relationship, a joint exercise will be conducted between the Indian and the French Army from September 9 to 20 in the French Alps at Grenoble.

This is the second joint military exercise between the two countries which have a history of extensive cooperation in the defence arena. The participating troops for this exercise have been drawn from 5th Battalion of the Kumaon Regiment of Jaipur Based South Western Command, while the Alpine troops of 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade will participate from the France Army. Approximately sixty troops from both the countries will participate in the exercise. The theme of the exercise is to conduct platoon level joint counter insurgency operations in high altitude mountainous terrain under the UN Charter, thus emphasizing the shared concerns of both countries about global terrorism. An added aim of the exercise is to qualitatively enhance knowledge of each others` military procedures thus increasing the scope for interoperability and better responsiveness to a common threat. The Indian troops have undergone extensive training on rock craft, ice craft, advanced mountaineering techniques at High Altitude Warfare School at Sonamarg in Kashmir, in addition to tactical drills of close cordon and house intervention drills in order to fulfil the mandate of the joint exercise. The twelve day exercise with France Army is scheduled to be conducted in multiple modules in order to achieve complete integration between the two contingents at every stage. The vast experience and expertise gained by the Indian troops in high altitude areas like Siachen Glacier and in Counter Insurgency operations hold special importance to the France Army. Conduct of the joint exercise would therefore set the stage for greater defence cooperation between the two nations, thus contributing to enhanced military ties in the years ahead. ANI