A 12-member team of the Indian Army is participating in the “Cobra Gold” multilateral exercises being hosted by Thailand, along with its counterparts from China and Pakistan. India has been invited to the exercises as an “observer plus” country. This is in keeping with the recent trend of India’s increasing regional inter-operability with a series of multi-lateral exercises on land and sea.

The theme of the exercise, involving 35 countries, is humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The 35th edition of the exercises, considered Asia’s largest multinational drill, started on January 20 and will end on February 18.

The decision on Indian participation was conveyed to Thailand during the recent visit of Vice-President Hamid Ansari. The Thai government has said that this year, 8,564 personnel from Thailand, the United Stats, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore and South Korea and other nations are playing various roles in the exercises.

Did You Know???

• Cobra Gold multilateral exercise is the largest Asia-Pacific military exercise held annually in Thailand.
• It was first held in 1982 in order to improve relations and coordination between the armed forces of Thailand and US in both humanitarian and hostile military efforts.
• The exercise was proven effective in improving coordinated military response during numerous natural disasters including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, 2011 Tōhoku tsunami and aftermath 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in Philippines.