India, Bangladesh armies say joint military exercise enhanced interoperability

The seventh Indo-Bangladesh joint training exercise 'Sampriti' was held at Umroi cantonment of Ri Bhoi district in Meghalaya.

The exercise was aimed at strengthening friendship between the two countries and improving cooperation between their armies.

The 13-day training that began on November 6 also aimed at enhancing interoperability between the two armies while carrying out counter-insurgency operations.

Around 14 officers from Bangladesh Army and 20 officers from Indian Army participated in the exercise that was organized under the aegis of Red Horns Division of Gajraj Corporations.

Indian Army Commander S Sanjay said, "This exercise has been extremely useful for both of us in understanding each other's techniques, tactics and procedures in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations in multinational terrorist scenario".

The Bangladesh Army Commandant said, "Both the armies, we understand, are training and development is a continuous process. So, the more insurgents will come up with new weapons and technologies at the same time, we should also update our training and equipment so that we always remain one step ahead of them."

The exercise was inaugurated by General Officer Commanding of Gajraj Corps Lt. General A.S. Bedi.

'Sampriti' has two distinct components, which include Command Post Exercise and Field Training Exercise.

Command Post Exercise (CPX) focuses on practicing joint planning and conducting counter-terrorist operations in semi-mountainous terrain with a special focus on drills and procedures followed while operating in dense jungles.

While the Field Training Exercise (FTX) emphasizes on physical condition, training on special operations, neutralization of Improvised Explosive Devices, search operations and platoon level tactical drills in counter-terrorist operations scenario.

'Sampriti' is held in India and Bangladesh every alternate year.

The previous edition of the exercise was held at Tangail in Dhaka last year, while in 2015 India hosted this exercise at Binnaguri in West Bengal.