Vietnam, India wrap up bilateral peacekeeping exercise

The Vietnam - India Bilateral Army Exercise (VINBAX) 2022 wrapped up with a ceremony held at Engineering Brigade 474 in the Indian state of Haryana on August 18.

The Vietnamese team at the Vietnam - India Bilateral Army Exercise 2022 (Source: VNA)
The Vietnamese team at the Vietnam - India Bilateral Army Exercise 2022 (Source: VNA)

Addressing the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau said the UN peacekeeping exercise is to implement the joint action plan for 2021 - 2023 agreed upon by the two countries’ leaders.

He expressed his hope that their common achievements will be spread to other fields other than bilateral military ties and cooperation in UN peacekeeping operations.

For his part, Lt. Gen. Prateek Sharma, Commander of the II Corps of India’s Western Command, described the drill as an important stride in bilateral defence cooperation which opened up new opportunities for more practical partnerships between armed forces of India and Vietnam, thereby helping strengthen both countries’ peacekeeping capacity.

During the exercise since August 1, the two countries’ forces focused on performing engineering and medical tasks in UN peacekeeping operations. Each side sent 45 personnel to the drill.

VINBAX 2022, the third exercise on UN peacekeeping between Vietnam and India, was upgraded from two previous sand table exercises held in 2018 and 2019.