The 12-day joint military exercise between the Indian Army and the Sri Lankan Army – Exercise Mitra Shakti – culminated at Combat Training School, Ampara on Saturday.
“The 8th edition of the Exercise #MitraShakti21 between the Indian and the Sri Lankan Army culminated at the island nation's eastern district of Ampara (sic),” the Indian Army took to Twitter to say.
It added that the exercise will further promote synergy and interoperability amongst the two armed forces besides further strengthening the bilateral ties.
“Besides promoting synergy & inter-operability amongst the Armed Forces, exercise further helped in cementing ties between both the Nations (sic),” said the Indian Army.
The participating contingents expressed immense satisfaction at the termination of the exercise in terms of standards achieved during the conduct of the said exercise.strengthening
The 12-day mega military exercise from 4 to 15 October began with a focus on enhancing counter-terror cooperation at the Combat Training School.
On Friday, Chief of Army Staff Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane witnessed the culmination of the exercise and lauded the troops of both contingents for their high standards of training and professionalism.
Army chief Gen Naravane arrived in Colombo on Tuesday on a four-day visit at the invitation of his Sri Lankan counterpart Gen Shavendra Silva.
The exercise got underway with the participation of an all arms contingent of 120 Indian Army personnel, headed by Colonel Prakash Kumar.
The joint military exercise has been designed to enhance understanding of transnational terrorism, inter-operability skills, conduct of joint tactical operations, sharing of each other’s best practices and experiences, the Sri Lanka Army said.
The annual training programme, which has largely contributed to strengthen bilateral military cooperation, understanding and bonds of neighbourly relations between both services, takes place alternately either in India or Sri Lanka every year, it added.
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