New Delhi: Special forces of India and Kyrgyzstan are set to conduct the 12th edition of Exercise Khanjar in Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan, ThePrint has learnt.
A total of nearly 25 of the Army’s Special Forces personnel will take part in the exercise.
The exercise will commence in the second week of March and will be conducted for a duration of approximately two weeks, sources in the defence and security establishment told ThePrint.
Exercise Khanjar is an annual event that is conducted alternately in both countries.
The aim of the exercise is to exchange experiences and best practices in counter-terrorism and special forces operations in built-up areas and mountainous terrain under the United Nations Charter.
The exercise will focus on developing skills and advanced techniques for the insertion and extraction of troops in conflict regions.
It will also showcase the capabilities of Indian defence equipment that the Indian contingent will carry to Tokmok. The exercise aims at achieving shared security objectives.
Last year, the two countries conducted the 11th edition of the special forces exercise at the Special Forces Training School in Bakloh, Himachal Pradesh between 22 January and 3 February.
The two countries first carried out such an exercise in December 2011 in Nahan, India. However, since 2015, Khanjar has become an annual event.
Conducting this exercise enhances defence cooperation between the two nations.
India and Kyrgyzstan have a strategic partnership that includes defence cooperation. The exercise is part of India’s efforts to have broader engagement with central Asia.
India also provides training and capacity-building programmes for Kyrgyz military personnel.
In the past, India has trained Kyrgyz military officers for conducting various UN peacekeeping courses, including through the Centre for UN Peacekeeping in New Delhi, as well as for the exchange of experience with Kyrgyz armed forces on the Level II UN Field Hospital of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Kyrgyz Republic, according to a 2015 MEA joint statement.
(Edited by Radifah Kabir)
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