On Tuesday, an Indian Army contingent arrived in an Air Force transport aircraft to participate in Exercise ‘Bright Star’ at the Mohamed Naguib military base in Egypt, beginning August 31. The contingent comprises 137 personnel. The Air Force team has left two days in advance to join the exercise, which will continue until September 14.
According to the Defence Ministry, it is a multinational joint military exercise of three forces, which will be led by the US CENTCOM and the Egyptian Army. It originated as a bilateral biennial training exercise between the US and Egypt during the 1977 Camp David Accords. The first edition of the exercise was conducted in 1980 in Egypt. Since 1995, the exercise has been expanded to include the participation of other countries. The last exercise, Bright Star, took place in the year 2021, in which armies from 21 countries participated.
34 countries will participate in Exercise ‘Bright Star’ this year. This will be the largest ever joint military exercise to be held in the Middle East and North Africa region. This is the first time that the Indian Armed Forces, with 549 personnel, is participating in exercise ‘Bright Star’. The Indian Army will be represented by a contingent of 23 Jat Battalion. For the first time, the Indian Air Force will also participate in this edition of Exercise Bright Star, to be held at Cairo Airbase. The IAF contingent has left two days in advance to participate in the biennial multilateral tri-services exercise. India has also sent five fighter MiG-29s, two tanker aircraft (IL-78), two C-130s, and two C-17 transport aircraft.
The exercise will have a large number of training activities focused on enhancing regional partnership among the participating nations with the aim of countering emerging non-traditional threats and maintaining world peace. Bright Star will also include a combined arms live firing exercise based on the tactical situation. There are also plans to organise a panel discussion on contemporary topics in cyber security, with Indian Armed Forces chiefs among the participants. During the exercise, the Indian Army will get a unique opportunity to share best practices and experiences with other armies, besides enhancing defence cooperation. The Indian Army is expected to gain rich professional experience from this exercise.
