Armed Forces joint exercise begins

THIRUVANATHAPURAM: The Indian Armed Forces have embarked on a joint exercise on the Lakshadweep Islands. The tri-services exercise which began the other day will be on till next week. ‘’All three services are involved. 200 Army personnel, ships of the Western and Eastern fleets of the Indian Navy and assets of the Indian Air Force have been deployed. The exercise is concentrated in the Lakshadweep area,’’ sources said. With inter-operability being the key-word these days, one aim of the joint exercise is to enhance coordination among the three forces. That the exercise is being conducted at the highly-strategic Lakshadweep archipelago gives it added significance.  Also, joint exercises here are a mark of the growing strategic importance of the peninsular region of the country. Recently, the Maritime Air Operations (MAO) were brought under the Southern Air Command which is expanding its assets in the South.  On Friday, ‘Ekuverin ‘09’, a joint exercise of Indian and Maldivian troops had come to an end at Belgaum.

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