Indo-French military exercise kicks off

Indo-French joint military exercise Shakti 2011,which is aimed at joint counter terror operations,kicked off at Chaubattia on Monday. The 15-day exercise,which will lead up to a live combat game,will see the participation of close to 150 troops from both sides. While India has taken part in army exercises with most major armies across the world,this is the first joint training exercise with France. The French Army has sent its elite 13 Mountain Battalion for the exercise while the 2 Bihar Regiment will participate from India. During the course of training,the troops from the two countries will practice basic combat tactics related to various aspects of counter-terrorism operations in detail and exchange their combat techniques and skills, an Indian Army officer said. The two armies will share the training syllabus for the first few days and will finally execute a series of counter- terror operations. The final combat game will include commando operations as well as mountain warfare around Ranikhet. In addition to giving an insight into the functioning of two different and powerful armies of the world,the exercise is likely to enhance defence cooperation and military-to-military relations between the two nations, the officer said.