Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau and soldiers of Vietnam and India at the opening ceremony of VINBAX 2022 (Photo: VNA)
Each of the two countries sent 45 personnel to the exercise, which will last until August 21.
The Vietnamese delegation was led by Col. Luu Dinh Hien, chief commander of the training centre at the Vietnam Department of Peacekeeping Operations. Meanwhile, the Indian side was led by Brigadier General Saurabh Bhatnagar, head of Engineering Brigade 474.
In his opening speech, Vietnamese Ambassador to India Pham Sanh Chau highlighted the importance of VINBAX 2022 to the two countries’ defence ties and comprehensive strategic partnership as they are marking the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
He thanked the Indian Ministry of Defence, especially Engineering Brigade 474, for creating the best conditions for the Vietnamese delegation to take part in the drill.
He also called on Vietnam’s military personnel to play an active part in the exercise and learn from Indian’s experience in order to make more effective contributions to UN peacekeeping operations in the future.
Welcoming the Vietnamese delegation, Lt. Gen. Prateek Sharma, Commander of the II Corps of India’s Western Command, said VINBAX 2022 is one of the practical cooperation activities held between the two militaries in recent years.
VINBAX 2022, the third exercise on UN peacekeeping between Vietnam and India, focuses on performing engineering and medical tasks in UN peacekeeping operations. It was upgraded from two previous sand table exercises held in 2018 and 2019./.
Q.Hoa t.h / VNA
