Exercise KazInd, an annual military exercise between the Indian Army and Kazakhstan Army, was conducted at Foreign Training Node, Umroi. The 14-day-long military exercise commenced on December 15 and successfully culminated on 28 December.

The Indian Army contingent participated with a company strength from the 6th Battalion the 11th Gorkha Rifles and similar strength participated from the contingent of the Kazakhstan Army. Both the contingents honed their tactical and technical skills in a spectrum of joint counter-terrorism operations in Jungle & Semi-Urban/Urban Terrain. 

 “Both contingents honed their tactical and technical skills in a spectrum of joint counter-terrorism operations in jungle and semi-urban or urban terrain. Both sides jointly planned and executed a series of tactical drills to train troops on counter-terrorism operations,” Defence Public Relations Officer (PRO) Lieutenant Colonel M S Rawat said in a statement.

The joint annual training exercise with the Kazakhstan Army was instituted in 2016 as Exercise Prabal Dostyk, which was later upgraded to a company-level exercise and renamed as Ex Kazind in 2018.

This exercise is aimed at building trust and understanding of each other in the field of national security.

Named the Ex Jenis (Ex Victory), the final validation exercise, demonstrated the various skills taught, including patrolling, jungle shooting, reflex shooting, changing MRE rations, survival, and combat tracking, multi-modular troop insertion through the air via slithering and low hovering and use of Mine Protective Vehicles, conducting raid, room intervention and house clearing drills, and unarmed combat display. The exercise also dealt with practicing intra-operability between both countries according to the UN Mandate of peacekeeping operations, where likely threats might be encountered through the practiced drills.

Image source: ANI