Pune: The inaugural military field training exercise for Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation nations named MILEX-18 is under progress at Aundh Military Station since 10 September.

In addition to the exercise, an inaugural Chiefs’ Conclave was also organised at the College of Military Engineering (CME), Dapodi, on Saturday, under the aegis of Headquarters Southern Command. 

The Chiefs of the Army of the five member nations of BIMSTEC namely India, Bhutan, Thailand, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, attended the conclave and spoke on ‘Possibility of Creating Viable Regional Security Architecture to deal with threats - Terrorism and Transnational Crime’. G Parthasarthy, former Indian diplomat, was the moderator for the event.

Lieutenant General DR Soni, Army Commander Southern Command, welcomed the chiefs of the member nations and other dignitaries and participants attending the conclave on behalf of General Bipin Rawat, Chief of Army Staff.  Representing their nations were Vice-Senior General Soe Win, Deputy Commander-in-Chief, Myanmar Defence Services and Commander-in-Chief Myanmar Army, Lieutenant General NUMMW Senanayake, Commander of Sri Lanka Army, General Aziz Ahmed, Chief of Army Staff Bangladesh, Lieutenant General Choochart Buakhao, Deputy Chief of Staff (Ops) Thailand and Brigadier Dorji Rinchen, Deputy Chief Operations Officer (Q), Bhutan. The dignitaries addressed the gathering by giving their views on the subject.

“All the chiefs of the respective member nations and visiting senior officials stressed on the need to tackle the menace of terrorism, which is one of the most potent threats in this century. They spoke of the need to safeguard national and regional interests of the people of this region. The conclave concluded with a lively and vibrant question and answer session with many in the audience wanting to express their viewpoint,” reads a statement from Southern Command.