Indo-French military exercise Shakti-2016 to be held in January

Indo-French joint military training exercise named 'Exercise Shakti-2016' will be held in Mahajan Field Firing Ranges in Rajasthan's Bikaner this month which will be focused on counter terrorism operations in backdrop of semi-urban terrain under United Nations Mandate.

This is the third edition in the series of bilateral exercises under this banner. A contingent of French Army personnel will arrive at Bikaner in a few days to participate in this exercise, Defence Spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha said.

The joint training would focus on high degree of physical fitness, tactical drills, techniques and procedure. A comprehensive training programme for a period of two weeks has been worked out for achieving the same.

During the exercise, participants will engage in variety of missions from joint planning, cordon and search operations, search and rescue, joint tactical drills and basics of special arms skills, he said.

The exercise would be conducted at Mahajan Field Firing Range and on completion of the same, the personnel of the two Armies would strive to gain experience and learning from each other on terrorist solutions.

The exercise would be conducted in two phases, namely combat conducting and tactical training and validation exercise, the spokesperson said.