Today, India and Malaysia start their bilateral military exercise “Harimau Shakti –2022” in Pulai, Kluang, Malaysia. It will continue until December 12. This year’s joint exercise will be its 10th year since the Indian and Malaysian Armies first participated in 2012, the Ministry of Defence press release stated.
The Indian Army’s 17 Garhwal Rifles will participate while the Malaysian Army is represented by 5 Royal Malay Regiment. The aim of this year’s training is to exchange operational experience as it leads to improved interoperability in terms of planning and executing missions in jungles.
Harimau Shakti 2022 commences soon after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Cambodia on November 23 for the Association of Southeast Nations’ (ASEAN’) Defence Ministers Plus meeting. “A peaceful Indo-Pacific, with Asean at its centre, becomes vital more than ever for the security and prosperity of the world,” he said at the meeting.
“The scope of this exercise involves a Command Planning Exercise (CPX) at the Battalion level and Company level Field Training Exercise (FTX) on sub-conventional operations in jungle terrain”, the ministry release added.
Harimau Shakti –2022 will also witness the troops establish a joint command post and surveillance centre. Expertise in employing aerial assets, technical demonstrations, casualty and evacuation, and logistics planning at the battalion level will be exchanged.
In addition, joint training field exercises, discussions on combat and joint demonstrations will be conducted over two days to prove capabilities of the Indian and Malaysian Armies.
This section of the bilateral exercise will focus on improving tactical skills and interoperability between the two forces as well as promote Army-to-Army relations.
Previously, India and Malaysia have participated in Exercise Udarashakti and Samudra Laksamana.
