India-France to hold 7th edition of Exercise ‘Shakti’ from May 13-26

In a bid to strengthen defence ties, India and France will conduct the 7th edition of the Joint Military Exercise ‘Shakti’ from May 13-26 in the Umroi region of Meghalaya.

The exercise aims to enhance the joint military capacity of both sides to undertake Multi-Domain Operations in a Sub Conventional scenario, the Indian Army said.

Additionally, the joint exercise will facilitate the development of interoperability bonhomie, and camaraderie between the Armed Forces of both nations.

Indian Army shared details of the upcoming exercise saying, “Exercise #Shakti 2024 The 7th Edition of Joint Military Exercise between #India & #France will be conducted from 13 to 26 May 2024 in #Umroi, #Meghalaya. The aim of the exercise is to enhance joint military capability of both sides to undertake Multi Domain Operations in a Sub Conventional scenario. The joint exercise will facilitate developing #interoperability, #bonhomie and #camaraderie between Armed Forces of both the Nations.”

The sixth edition of Indo-France joint army exercise Ex Shakti 2021, occurred at the Military School of Draguignan, France in November 2021.

The Indian Army contingent was represented by a composite team of three Officers, three Junior Commissioned Officers and 37 soldiers from a battalion of Gorkha Rifles and support Arms.

The training was focused on aspects of joint planning, mutual understanding of conduct of operations and identification of coordination aspects required for jointly operating in a Counter Terrorism environment under United Nations mandate.

The participating contingents had also been put through paces of combat conditioning and tactical training which included firing drills and ‘battle hardening’ work sessions. The exercise was conducted in two phases which culminated with a grueling 36 hours exercise to validate the standards achieved during the two phases.

Earlier, Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan visited France from April 22-25.

The visit was aimed to reinforce further the robust defence ties between the two nations, which have gained considerable momentum in the last few years.