India, B'desh armies' joint exercise on counter terror

As part of Indo-Bangladesh defence cooperation, a joint military training exercise is being organised at Umroi in Meghalaya from February 3 to 16 where both armies will jointly practice counter terrorist operations in a controlled and simulated environment.

"Exercise SAMPRITI - IX is an important bilateral defence cooperation endeavour between India and Bangladesh and will be the ninth edition of the exercise which is hosted alternately by both countries," Indian Army spokesperson Colonel Aman Anand told IANS.

During the joint military exercise SAMPRITI-IX, command post and field training exercises will be conducted. For both the command post and field training exercises, a scenario where both nations are working together in a counter terrorism environment will be simulated under the UN Charter.

The field training exercise curriculum is progressively planned where the participants will initially get familiar with each other's organisational structure and tactical drills.

Subsequently, joint tactical exercise will be conducted wherein the battle drills of both the armies will be practiced. "The training will culminate with a final validation exercise in which troops of both armies will jointly practice a Counter Terrorist Operation in a controlled and simulated environment," said Colonel Anand said.

In addition, to understand each other at a tactical level, greater cultural understanding will be emphasised to strengthen military trust and cooperation between the two nations.IANS