Article Posted on : - Mar 09, 2016

A file photo.

NEW DELHI (PTI): The Indian Army and the Indonesian Army will take part in the fourth "Garuda Shakti" joint training exercise, which will focus on counter-insurgency, between March 10 and 23.

According to Col. Rohan Anand, spokesperson for the Indian Army, the joint exercise will be conducted for 13 days at Magelang, Indonesia in which an Indian Army platoon strength contingent will carry out cross training with a platoon from the Airborne battalion of the Indonesian Army.

The selected Indian Army unit has varied operational experience in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorist operations in the Northern, Western and Eastern theatres.

The Indian Contingent has been put through a rigorous training schedule to prepare it for the exercise which includes combat conditioning, firing, tactical operations, tactical skills and special heliborne operations training.

The exercise will be conducted as joint Counter Insurgency operations exercise in urban and rural scenario and encompass various facets of tactical Counter Insurgency operations.

Anand said the aim of the exercise is to build and promote positive relations between the armies of India and Indonesia and to enhance the ability of both of them to undertake joint tactical level operations in a Counter Insurgency environment under United Nations Charter.

It also includes the ambit of identifying areas of expertise/ specialisation of each other, evolution of combat tactical drills for conduct of tactical Counter Insurgency operations and to undertake combined training for neutralisation of insurgency threat.

The exercise is conducted on a reciprocal basis and its first edition was conducted in the year 2012 in India.

The second edition was conducted in Indonesia in 2013 and third in India in 2014.

To coordinate modalities of the training exercise, an Exercise Planning Conference was held at Yogyakarta, Indonesia on 22 and 23 September 2015.