UMROI: 'Exercise Maitree-2019' — the joint military training exercise between Indian Army (IA) and Royal Thailand Army (RTA) — which had commenced on September 16 culminated on Sunday at the Foreign Training Node, here in Meghalaya. During the last couple of weeks, contingents of both the Armies shared their expertise and experiences in counter-terrorism operations and enhanced interoperability. The scope of the exercise encompassed joint training in various facets of counter-terrorism operations in urban and jungle environments.
The training culminated with a 48-hour outdoor exercise in which troops of both contingents carried out a cordon-and-search operation in a mock village. The validation exercise was reviewed by Brig Anil Raman, Deputy General Officer Commanding of the Indian Army in the presence of senior Army officers of both the participating countries. The Thailand side was represented by Col Pana Cleawplodtook.
Besides training, both the contingents also participated in a plethora of extracurricular activities which included friendly basketball, volleyball, tug-of-war matches and a cultural programme on the final day to increase the bonhomie between troops, stated a PIB release.