India-France joint military exercise ‘Shakti’ begins in Meghalaya 

DELHI: The 7th edition of the India-France joint military exercise ‘Shakti’ began at Umroi in Meghalaya on Monday.

H.E. Thierry Mathou, Ambassador of France to India, and Major General Prasanna Sudhakar Joshi, General Officer Commanding 51 Sub Area, attended the opening ceremony of the joint exercise, which will continue till May 26.

The exercise ‘Shakti’ is a biennial training event conducted alternatively in India and France. The last edition was held in France in November 2021.

The Indian contingent, comprising 90 personnel, is being represented primarily by a battalion of the Rajput Regiment, besides personnel from other arms and services. Observers from the Indian Navy and the Indian Air Force will also form part of the exercise. The French contingent, comprising 90 personnel, will be represented mainly by personnel from the 13th Foreign Legion Half-Brigade (13th DBLE).

The exercise aims at enhancing the joint military capability of both sides to undertake multi-domain operations in a sub-conventional scenario under Chapter VII of the United Nations Mandate. It will focus on operations in the semi-urban and mountainous terrain. Objectives to be achieved from the joint training are a high degree of physical fitness, rehearsing and refining drills for operations at the tactical level, and sharing of best practices.

Tactical drills to be practiced during the exercise will include response to a terrorist action of capturing a defined territory, establishment of a joint command post, establishment of an intelligence and surveillance centre, securing of a helipad or landing site, small team insertion and extraction, special heliborne operations, cordon and search operations, besides employment of drones and counter drone systems, among others.

‘Shakti’ will enable the two sides to share their best practices in tactics, techniques, and procedures for conducting joint operations. It will facilitate developing interoperability, bonhomie, and camaraderie between armed forces personnel of the two countries. This will also help enhance the level of defence cooperation, further fostering bilateral relations between the two friendly nations, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.