The sixth joint Military Training Exercise between the Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) concluded on Sunday.
Operation EKUVERIN 2015 was held at Pangode Military Station from August 31. Forty five marines from the Maldivian National Defence Force and a same number of Indian infantry troops participated.
The bilateral annual exercise, which commenced in 2009 at Belgaum, India, is held annually, alternately in Indian and Maldives with the aim of enhancing military cooperation and interoperability between defence forces of the two countries. It was the first joint exercise involving an international contingent to be conducted at Thiruvananthapuram, which is being developed as a Training Node by the Indian Army.
A number of training activities and exercise were conducted during the joint training. The officers and soldiers of Maldivian National Defence Forces appreciated the high standards of training, motivation and operational capability of the Indian Army. The exercise provided an excellent opportunity for fostering jointmanship and interoperability between the defence forces of both countries. Brigadier Samir Salunke, Chief Director of the Exercise and Station Commander, Pangode Military Station, and Brigadier Ali Zuhair of MNDF witnessed the final phase of the exercise conducted at Thiruvananthapuram and reviewed the standards achieved.
