Exercise ‘Pragati’

News: The Indian Army announced hosting 12 friendly countries for the inaugural multilateral Exercise ‘Pragati’ at Umroi, Meghalaya.

About Exercise ‘Pragati’

• Pragati (Partnership of Regional Armies for Growth and Transformation in the Indian Ocean Region) is a multilateral military exercise aimed at cooperation and capability building among regional armies.
• Hosted by: It is hosted by the Indian Army.
• Location: The exercise will be held at the Foreign Training Node in Umroi, Meghalaya.
• Participants: It will include military delegations and troops from 12 friendly foreign countries across Asia, Africa, and the Indo-Pacific.
  • Participating nation:  Bhutan, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Vietnam are participating in the exercise.
• Edition : It is the inaugural edition of the exercise.
• Objective: The exercise aims to strengthen defence cooperation, enhance interoperability, and build mutual trustamong participating nations.
• Key aspect:
  • Joint training focus: The exercise will include drills in counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism environments, including small-unit tactics and surveillance.
  • Operational learning: It will involve lectures and workshops on India’s doctrine, command structures, and counter-insurgency experience.
  • Collaborative framework: It reflects a shift to multilateral consortium-style training with standardised procedures and shared tactical understanding.
• Significance: It highlights India’s effort to act as a regional security mentor and strengthen defence diplomacy and collective security.