7th Indo-Sri Lanka Joint Exercise 'MITRA SHAKTI-VII' at Pune

As the ‘Mitra Shakti-VII' is underway, the Indian and Sri Lankan troops were seen carrying out specialised joint training in Pune on Friday. The training included various exercises like special heliborne operations practice, silent insertion and jungle lane shooting and improvised explosive device familiarisation and handling. The joint training session of Indian and Sri Lankan troops is scheduled to conclude on December 14. 

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Read: PM Modi welcomes Sri Lanka President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, upholds 'neighborhood first'

Indo-Sri Lankan ties 

The new Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 29. They discussed at length about the bilateral ties between the two countries. This was Gotabaya’s first visit to another nation after being elected as the President. PM Modi spoke about how India is always eager to help its neighboring countries. Taking this forward, he announced that India has contributed a 400-million-dollar line of credit for infrastructure and development in Sri Lanka. 

According to the PM, this will not only help Sri Lanka's financial situation but also increase cooperation between the two countries. He then spoke about how the Indian Housing project has also built 46,000 houses in Sri Lanka and how another 14,000 is on the way. PM Modi also addressed some projects that were still in talks like a solar project, a 100 million dollar credit line as well as 20 community and people projects for social welfare. 

Read: Indian & Uzbek troops perform heliborne training during Dustlik 2019

India’s joint military training with Uzbekistan 

During the ‘Dustlik 2019’, the India-Uzbekistan joint troops were seen performing a heliborne training exercise on November 7. This cames as the Indian troops visited Uzbekistan for the first time for the Indo-Uzbek Joint Exercise named 'Dustlik 2019'. The Union Minister of Defence Rajnath Singh attended the curtain raiser event of this joint exercise on November 4 along with his Uzbek counterpart Major General Bakhodir Nizamovich Kurbanov.  The Joint Military Exercise was focused on counterterrorism, an area in which the two countries share a common concern. The exercise also enabled the sharing of best practices and experiences between the Armed Forces of the two countries. 

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