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Army to hold joint exercises with 16 friendly forces NEW DELHI: From just a couple of joint exercises annually a decade ago, Indian Army is really cranking up its engagement with foreign armies now. The 1.13-million force will undertake as many as 16 combat exercises with friendly forces in 2011-2012. The flurry of exercises constitute an effective diplomatic tool to enhance overall strategic ties and military-to-military cooperation with countries in Indias immediate and strategic neighbourhood as well as priority nations far away. From US, UK, France, Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan to Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal, Maldives, Seychelles, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand, the response has been simply overwhelming, say Army officers. Other armies are very keen to exercise with us since we have six decades of combat experience across the entire spectrum of conflict. One of the main focus areas in the exercises has been counter-terrorism/counter-insurgency in rural, semi-urban and urban terrains, said a senior officer. With the ever-growing threat of terrorism looming large over the globe, this comes as no surprise. Indian Army, after all, has dealt with insurgencies and terrorism over the years, developing valuable expertise in tackling sub-conventional warfare or low-intensity conflict operations. Army, of course, also has specialized institutions like the Counter-Insurgency and Jungle Warfare School (CIJWS) at Vairengte in Mizoram, where soldiers learn to fight the guerrilla like a guerrilla, as well as the High-Altitude Warfare School (HAWS) in Jammu and Kashmir, which runs specialized mountain warfare courses in Sonamarg area and snow-craft and winter warfare in Gulmarg area. Back |
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