India- Sri Lanka To Take Part In ‘Mitra Shakti 21’ Exercise

WHY IN THE NEWS?

8th Edition of the “India Sri Lanka bilateral joint Exercise” called Mitra Shakti will be conducted from October 4 to October 15, 2021, at Combat Training School, Ampara in Sri Lanka.

About:

• In the joint exercise, all arms contingent of 120 personnel from the Indian Army will participate along with the battalion of the Sri Lankan Army.
• This exercise will be conducted with the aim of promoting close relations between the armies of India and Sri Lanka.
• It also seeks to enhance interoperability and share best practices to counter insurgency and terrorism operations.
• It will involve tactical level operations at the sub-unit level.
• Operations will be held in an international Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism environment.
• The exercise will act as the catalyst to bring synergy and cooperation at the grass-root level between the Indian army and Sri Lankan Army.

Background

7th Edition of Exercise Mitra Shakti was conducted in the year 2019 at Foreign Training Node (FTN), Pune, Maharashtra. It was conducted with the aim of building and promoting positive relations between armies of both the countries. It also incorporated the current dynamics of United Nations peacekeeping operations by means of practical & comprehensive discussions as well as tactical exercises.

India-Sri Lanka relations

Bilateral relations between India and Sri-Lanka are historic. Only 4% of Sri Lankans are having a negative view regarding India. Both the countries are also close on economic terms. India is the largest trading partner of Sri Lanka. Both the countries share a maritime border. India is separated by Sri Lanka, by the Palk Strait. They are republics within the Commonwealth of Nations