PUNE, 9 March 2016 – The ASEAN Defence Ministers’ Meeting Plus (ADMM-Plus) Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) and Peacekeeping Operations (PKO) Joint Field Training Exercise – dubbed Exercise Force 18 – concluded in Pune, India yesterday. The closing ceremony – officiated by General Dalbir Singh, the Indian Army Chief – marked the successful conclusion of the five-day multinational exercise involving the armed forces of the ADMM-Plus countries. The ADMM-Plus is a platform for the militaries of ASEAN and its eight Dialogue Partners, namely Australia, China, Japan, India, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Russia and the United States, to work together in fostering practical defence cooperation towards a safe, peaceful and resilient region.
The exercise – hosted by the College of Military Engineering and the Aundh Training Node in Pune – saw the deployment of over 300 military personnel from the ADMM-Plus countries. It aims to build common understanding in the execution of techniques required to meet the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping guidelines and in dealing with explosive remnants of war. During the exercise, the participating forces exchanged best practices and experiences in HMA and PKO towards a more effective response to regional and global security challenges.
Exercise Force 18 marks the first of the series of ADMM-Plus live exercises this year. The successful conduct of the exercise further cements the importance of the ADMM-Plus in the regional security architecture and its role as the key venue for multilateral practical cooperation among the militaries and defence establishments in the Asia Pacific region.