Indo-French joint military exercise ends

The joint military exercise between Indian and French armies, 'Exercise Shakti-2016' culminated on Saturday at Mahajan Field Firing Range in Bikaner, Rajasthan.

The exercise which aimed at achieving interoperability to acquaint each other with operational procedures, combat drills and understand the functioning of each other was conducted in two phases.

"The first phase of combat conditioning and tactical training was completed successfully by both the contingents and in the second phase, termed as validation stage, included clearing of routes, establishment of observation posts, cordon and search operation and house clearing drills," according to defence spokesperson Lt Col Manish Ojha.

"During the exercise, both the armies shared valuable combat experience with respect to countering terrorist operations in an international environment," he said in a statement.

The exercise which began on January 8 is the third edition in the series of bilateral exercises under this banner.