Maiden India-Saudi Arabia Army exercise concludes

The joint military exercise 'Sada Tanseeq' between the Indian Army and the Royal Saudi Land Force concluded successfully.

The maiden joint military exercise ‘Sada Tanseeq’ between the Indian Army and the Royal Saudi Land Force concluded at Mahajan Field Firing Ranges on Friday. A formal closing ceremony was held which give both sides an opportunity to “reflect upon the lessons learnt”.

The 12 day joint exercise from January 29 to February 9 aimed to achieve interoperability between the two forces and acquaint each other with operational procedures and combat drills under UN mandate, Col. Amitabh Sharma, Defence Spokesperson said in a statement in Jaipur. The validation phase of the exercise was successfully completed on Thursday.

The Indian contingent of the 20th Battalion of The Brigade of Guards Regiment and the Saudi Arabian contingent comprising a group of 45 soldiers of Royal Saudi Land Force participated in the exercise which was conducted in two phases. The first phase focused on combat conditioning and tactical training and the second phase culminated in physical exercises and validation, the statement said. 

“Both the contingents jointly took part in the validation phase which included creation of Temporary Operating Base, establishing an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance grid, establishing mobile vehicle check post, carrying out cordon and search operations in a hostile village, heliborne operations and conduct of house intervention drills,” Col. Sharma said. The validation phase also witnessed platoon battle drills wherein firing of Infantry Combat Vehicles and various weapons took place. 

“This exercise has proved to be a harbinger for cementing ties between India and Saudi Arabia and forging a strategic relationship between the two great nations,” the statement said. “During the exercise both the Armies shared valuable combat experience and best practices.”

Besides training, both the contingents also participated in number of extracurricular activities including friendly cricket, basketball, volleyball, and tug of war matches.