IAFTX 2019 to be held in Pune in March

With the aim to synergise humanitarian mine action and joint peace operations, the Indian Africa Field Training Exercise (IAFTX) will be held in Pune from March 18 to 27, officials said Wednesday.

The final planning conference to work out the modalities for IAFTX 2019 is being conducted in Pune on Wednesday and Thursday, they said.

"Delegates from Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan, South Africa, Tanzania, Namibia, Mozambique, Uganda, Niger and Zambia are attending the conference," the Army said in a statement.

The field training exercise would be conducted at Aundh Military Station and College of Military Engineering in Pune from March.

"The joint training exercise is being conducted with more than a dozen African countries and India," the statement said, adding, it aims to synergise humanitarian mine action and joint peace operations.

The initial planning conference for the exercise was held in December 2018.

The IAFTX-2019 is a positive step towards growing political and military ties with the member nations of African continent and will boost the already strong strategic cooperation between the countries, it added.