Vietnam, India hold joint peacekeeping exercise
VOV.VN - The Vietnam - India Bilateral Army Exercise (VINBAX) 2022 was launched on August 1 at Engineering Brigade 474 in the Indian state of Haryana.
Both countries sent a total of 45 personnel to the exercise, which is scheduled to last until August 21.
The Vietnamese delegation was led by Col. Luu Dinh Hien, chief commander of the training centre at the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Meanwhile, the Indian side was led by Brigadier General Saurabh Bhatnagar, head of Engineering Brigade 474.
As part of his opening speech at the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau highlighted the importance of VINBAX 2022 to both nations’ defence ties, as well as the comprehensive strategic partnership as they mark the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
He went on to thank the Indian Ministry of Defence, especially Engineering Brigade 474, for creating the best conditions possible for the Vietnamese delegation to participate in the drill.
He also called on Vietnamese military personnel to play an active part in the exercise and learn from Indian experiences in order to make more effective contributions to UN peacekeeping operations in the future.
Upon welcoming the Vietnamese delegation, Lt. Gen. Prateek Sharma, commander of the II Corps of India’s Western Command, said that VINBAX 2022 is one of the key practical co-operation activities to be held between the two militaries in recent years.
VINBAX 2022 is the third exercise on UN peacekeeping between Vietnam and India and focuses on performing engineering and medical tasks in UN peacekeeping operations. It was upgraded from two previous sand table exercises held back in 2018 and 2019.