Exercise KAZIND 2023

31.10.2023

Exercise KAZIND 2023 , Daily Current Affairs , RACE IAS : Best IAS Coaching in Lucknow 

Why in the news?

Recently, the Indian Army and Indian Air Force contingent, comprising 120 personnel, departed to take part in the Joint Military ‘Exercise KAZIND-2023’ which will be conducted at Otar, Kazakhstan, from October 30th to November 11th, 2023.

About Exercise KAZIND-2023:

• It is the 7th edition of the Kazind exercise.
• The Joint Exercise between India and Kazakhstan was instituted as ‘Exercise PRABAL DOSTYK’ in the year 2016.
• After the second edition, the Exercise was upgraded to a company-level exercise and renamed as ‘Exercise KAZIND’.
• The Exercise has been further upgraded as a Bi-service Exercise this year by including the Air Force component.
• In this edition of the Exercise, both sides will practise conduct of Counter Terrorism operations in a sub-conventional environment under United Nations mandate.
• The contingents will jointly rehearse various tactical drills to include Raid, Search and Destroy Operations, Small Team Insertion and Extraction operations, etc.
• The scope of the Exercise also includes conduct of Counter Unmanned Aerial System Operations.

Aim:

To build positive military relations, imbibe each other’s best practices and promote the ability to operate together while undertaking counter terrorist operations in a semi urban / jungle scenario.

Significance

• ‘It will provide an opportunity for both sides to gain insight into the tactics, battle drills, and procedures of each other, which is a prerequisite while operating under the ambit of the United Nations.
• The joint training will develop the necessary skills, resilience, and coordination to conduct joint military operations in Semi-Urban and Urban environments.
• Both sides will get a chance to practise drills on a wide spectrum of combat skills and mutually learn from each other.
• The exercise will provide an opportunity for the contingents to exchange views and share best practices.

How is Kazakhstan Important for India?

• Kazakhstan’s geopolitical existence between Russia and Asia, along with long borders with China, makes it a country of great strategic importance.
• Kazakhstan can also help India achieve a geostrategic rebalancing with China.
• India’s foremost objective is countering the rapid economic inroads China is making in the region through the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative.
• It holds great significance to India especially in terms of energy resources and its economic potential and also due to its geo-strategic location.
• From the perspective of energy resources, Kazakhstan is the world’s largest producer of Uranium.
• India and Kazakhstan actively cooperate under the aegis of various multilateral fora including Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA), Shanghai Cooperation Operation (SCO) and the United Nations (UN) organisations.

India’s Relations With Kazakhstan:

 Political relations:

• India was one of the first countries to recognize the independence of Kazakhstan.
• Diplomatic relations were established in February 1992.
• India and Kazakhstan have been strategic partners since 2009.
• India and Kazakhstan actively cooperate under the aegis of multilateral fora including CICA (Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia), Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) and the UN organizations.
• India supported Kazakhstan‘s successful candidature for non-permanent membership of UNSC in 2017-18.

Defence Cooperation:

• The Indo-Kazakh Defence Cooperation is carried out under the framework of an agreement on “Defence and Military Technical cooperation” signed in July 2015.
• Kazakh Armed Forces Unit underwent training on peacekeeping operations in India for deployment under an Indian Battalion at the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Trade & Economy:

• Kazakhstan is India‘s largest trade and investment partner in Central Asia.
• As per statistics of Kazakhstan for 2019, total bilateral trade between India and Kazakhstan amounted to US$ 1.56 billion.
• FICCI and the Chamber of International Commerce of Kazakhstan have set up a Joint Business Council (JBC) to promote trade, economic and investment cooperation between the two countries.

Cultural relations:

• India and Kazakhstan enjoy close cultural relations that manifest in the popularity of yoga, Indian films, dance and music in Kazakhstan.
• Swami Vivekananda Cultural Centre in Nur-Sultan is engaged in various cultural activities, including conducting yoga, dance and music classes; celebration of Indian festivals.
• India provides scholarships in various disciplines under the ICCR Scholarship programmes for students from Kazakhstan.

Source:PIB