Indo-France joint military exercise commences at Draguignan

The Sixth Edition of Indo-French joint military exercise “Ex-SHAKTI 2021” has commenced at the Military School of Draguignan, France with an opening ceremony on 15 Nov 21.

The Indian Army contingent is being represented by a composite team of three officers, three Junior Commissioned Officers, and 37 soldiers from a battalion of Gorkha Rifles and Support Arms.

Key Highlights

• The training so far has focused on aspects of joint planning, mutual understanding of the conduct of operations, and identification of coordination aspects required for jointly operating in a Counter-Terrorism environment under United Nations mandate.
• The participating contingents have also been put through paces of combat conditioning and tactical training which included firing drills and ‘battle hardening’ work sessions. 
• The exercise is being conducted in two phases which will culminate with a grueling 36 hours exercise to validate the standards achieved during the two phases.
• The contingent apart from joint training went to visit MAZARGUES War Cemetery in Marseilles where 1,002 Indian soldiers of the First World War have been cremated. 
• The Indian and French contingents together presented a Guard of Honor and paid their homage to commemorate the valour of the fallen Bravehearts.

SOURCE: India Today

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