As part of India’s outreach to Africa, armies of India and 23 African countries started the second edition of the Africa-India Field Training Exercise `AFINDEX-2023’. The exercise which is focussed on Humanitarian Mine Action and Peacekeeping Operations is taking place at Aundh-based Foreign Training Node located in Maharashtra. The exercise is taking
Objective
Financial Express Online has reported earlier that the main objective of this exercise is to strengthen and also refine interoperability. The personnel for all the armies will also be trained in operational preparedness for UN Peacekeeping Operations.
According to a senior Army officer the primary focus of AFINDEX-2023 joint military exercise is on ability to operate jointly with seamless interoperability, procedures and tactical drills.
This drill will bring out the practical aspects of the theme based training. And also to enable the personnel to understand and put into practice the validated drills and procedures through situational-based discussions and tactical exercise.
Around 100 military personnel from different countries of the African continent including Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Ghana, Senegal, Sudan, South Africa, Tanzania, Malawi, Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Malawi, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Seychelles, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe are participating in the field training exercise.
India-Africa outreach
The outreach was started back in 2008 when the first India-Africa Summit had taken place and followed by the next edition in 2015.
The drill is taking place at a time when India is hosting the G20 summit in September as it holds the presidency of the grouping and issues related to Global South are also going to find a place during the discussions.
About the exercise
This will be conducted in four phases and in the first phase of the exercise – the visiting troops will be trained by the Indian Army; Humanitarian Mine Action; Peacekeeping Operations phase. And will conclude with the troops validating what they have learnt during the fortnight long exercise.
During the drill the participants will get a chance to hone their skills on Made in India military platforms and weapon systems. And also the different indigenous systems and what Indian industry can offer will be on display. These would include surveillance and security management equipment, small arms and ammunition; counter terrorism related equipment; light and heavy vehicles; bullet proof and IED protected vehicle; Body Protection Armour; Simulators; IED Detection Equipment; System Engineering; and Prosthetics & Artificial Limbs.