The militaries of Indian and African countries to hold joint exercises next week aimed at exchanging humanitarian assistance and anti-terror measures best practices between the nations.
During the drill, the participating countries’ armed forces will jointly practice the United Nations mandated tasks which include nuances of standing combat deployment, convoy protection, patrolling aspects, protection of civilians, and aspects related to humanitarian mine assistance.
The second edition of Africa-India Field Training Exercise, AFINDEX is scheduled to be held between March 21-30 and around 20 African nations are participating in this drill. This will be the first joint military exercise that will take place at Foreign Training Node (FTN) of the Indian Army which is located at Aundh Military Station in Pune. In fact this is the first multinational exercise FTN will hold post COVID-19 pandemic.
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Focus of the drill
According to the Indian Army the focus of this drill is going to be on UN Peacekeeping Operations and Humanitarian Mine Assistance under Chapter VII of UN Peacekeeping Operations charter, as some of the war torn countries in the African continent face Unexploded Ordnance which is often referred to as UXO and problems related to landmines.
India is one of the biggest contributors of troops to the UN Peacekeeping Operations under Blue Helmet across the globe because of the level of training the officers and soldiers undergo. Indian Army is also known to be one of the expert agencies globally in mine removal operations and the drill will be of great help to the African nations and further deepen diplomatic ties between the two sides.
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When was the first Africa-India Field Training Exercise, AFINDEX?
In March 2019 the inaugural edition of the Africa-India Field Training Exercise, AFINDEX, was held at the FTN. There were contingents from countries including South Africa, Tanzania, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Uganda, Benin, Botswana, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Indian Army was represented by a contingent of Maratha Light Infantry.
Financial Express Online has reported earlier that India has been focussing on strengthening its defence partnership with the continent especially in maritime security, combating piracy in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Besides contributing to the UN Peacekeeping Operations in the region, India has been engaged in training and capacity building of the military personnel.