The troops from the two sides are set to begin the joint exercise ‘Mitra Shakti’ on Thursday at the Foreign Training Node in Pune.

Exercise Mitra Shakti

Months after India and Sri Lanka agreed to increase the complexity of bilateral military exercises, the troops from the two sides are set to begin the joint exercise ‘Mitra Shakti’ on Thursday at the Foreign Training Node in Pune. Its aim is to promote close relations between armies of both countries and enhance interoperability and sharing of best practices in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism (CI-CT) operations. The 14-day exercise is set to conclude on November 29.

‘Mitra Shakti’ which means ‘power of friendship’ is conducted under the United Nations’ (UN) mandate as both armies contribute to the UN Peacekeeping Forces deployed in the troubled areas across the world. Previous edition of Mitra Shakti was conducted in Sri Lanka in October 2021. India and Sri Lanka reviewed the defence cooperation activities b/w the two countries at the seventh annual defence dialogue held in New Delhi in February.

UN mandate necessitates high levels of interoperability and cohesion among armies to be able to execute joint operations in the CI-CT domain.

Foreign Training Node

The Foreign Training Node located at the military station in Aundh, Pune, has emerged as a preferred location for holding bilateral and multilateral military exercises and the Southern Command in Pune has played an important role in their execution.