India, Thailand commence 13th joint military exercise Maitree to strengthen defense cooperation

The joint exercise will be conducted in joint Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism Operations in Jungle and Urban environment, an Indian Army official said. Conducted annually, the previous edition of exercise Maitree was held in India.

The armies of India and Thailand began their 13th edition of joint military exercise Maitree from July 1 at Fort Vachiraprakan under Tak Province in Thailand to further enhance interoperability between both the forces. 

From Indian Army, a total of 80 personnel from Ladakh Scouts is participating in the 2-week-long exercise to be conducted under the United Nations mandate.

The joint exercise will be conducted in joint Counter Insurgency and Counter Terrorism Operations in Jungle and Urban environment, an Indian Army official said. 

Conducted annually, the previous edition of exercise Maitree was held in India.

It must be noted that India and Thailand have been cooperating in various multilateral forums like ASEAN, ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF), East Asia Summit, BIMSTEC. 

In addition, India is also a member of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) initiated by Thailand in 2002 and of the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC).