India, Maldives to begin two-week long joint military exercise at Belagavi tomorrow

Bengaluru: The two-week long eighth edition of the India-Maldives joint military exercise, ‘Ekuverin’, will  be conducted from Friday at Belagavi, about 505 kilometre from Bengaluru. The bilateral annual exercise is a 14-day joint military training between the Indian Army and the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF), which is held alternatively in India and Maldives since 2009. [caption id=“attachment_3788725” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] ‘Ekuverin’ means ‘friends’ in the Maldivian language. The seventh edition of the exercise was held at Kadhdhoo, Lammu Atoll, Maldives in December, 2016. The focus of the exercise is to acquaint both armies with each other’s operating procedures in the backdrop of a counter-insurgency or counter-terrorist operations in an urbaner semi-urban environment under the United Nations (UN) Charter, with an overall aim to enhance interoperability between the two armies, an official release said. It said the exercise will see the contingents hone their tactical and technical skills, and also provide an opportunity for the two armies to activate the Joint Operations Centre at Belagavi. The MNDF will be represented by a team comprising two officers and 43 other ranks, while the Indian Army by three officers, as many junior commissioned officers and 39 other ranks belonging to a Gorkha Rifles Battalion (Sirmoor Rifles). The opening ceremony of the exercise, scheduled for Friday will witness a fly past by the Army Aviation team along with a march past by the contingent from both the countries in the presence of the pipe and drums band of the Gorkha Regiment.