In March, India-Africa Military Exercise To Be Held Second Edition

On Wednesday, Army officers said that in March, the Indian Army’s Foreign Training Node (FTN), which is at the Aundh Military Station in Pune, will host a military exercise with the armies of several African countries. The focus of the exercise will be on UN Peacekeeping Operations and Humanitarian Mine Assistance.

In March 2019, the FTN was the site of the first Africa-India Field Training Exercise, or AFINDEX. Benin, Botswana, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe all sent troops to the first exercise. The Indian Army also sent a group of Maratha Light Infantry.

Army officials said that 20 African countries are likely to take part in the second AFINDEX, which will take place this year from March 21 to March 30. There have already been two coordination conferences between the Indian Army and African countries, and a third is set to happen soon. This will be the first time the FTN has a joint military exercise since the Covid-19 pandemic.

The goal of the exercise is to improve the skills of the participating defence forces in planning and carrying out Humanitarian Mine Assistance and Peace Keeping Operations under Chapter VII of the UN Peacekeeping Operations Charter.

The exercise will focus on sharing the best ways to do things between the countries that are taking part, building teams, and doing tactical-level operations to carry out tasks that the UN has asked for. The UN has given them tasks like setting up new missions for UN peacekeeping forces, protecting civilians, figuring out the details of standing combat deployment, protecting convoys, patrolling, and helping people with mines.

Because of how well trained their officers and soldiers are, India has been one of the biggest contributors of troops to UN Peacekeeping Operations all over the world.

On the other hand, the Indian Army is thought to be one of the best organisations in the world at removing mines.

Some of Africa’s war-torn countries do have problems with landmines and UXO, which stands for “Unexploded Ordnance.” Officials say that joint exercises with India will be very helpful for all of the countries involved, and that the Indian Army will also learn a lot from their experiences. People are also looking at the exercise as a key part of India’s diplomatic relationships with African countries.