Gen Rawat India-Australia Young Defence Officers’ Exchange Programme was unveiled following a digital summit between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his then Australian counterpart Scott Morrison in March final yr.
Gen Rawat, his spouse Madhulika Rawat and 12 different military personnel had been killed in a helicopter crash close to Coonoor in Tamil Nadu on December 8, 2021.
Official sources stated the 15-member Australian contingent comprised 4 feminine officers.
They stated each Indian and Australian officers had been taken by way of a sequence of coaching demonstrations associated to preventing in built-up areas by paratroopers of the elite formation.
This platform has given the younger officers a singular publicity to foster defence ties and cooperate by understanding the cultural {and professional} elements, stated an official.
The younger officers additionally interacted with paratroopers of Shatrujeet brigade to know the distinctive position of the strategic airborne formation of Indian Armed Forces. The sources stated the programme supplies a precious alternative for the Australian officers to look at the coaching and practices of India’s military and foster larger understanding and cooperation.
The visit to India by the Australian defence delegation is one other instance of the constructing momentum between Australia and India as complete strategic companions.
“The exchange programme displays the shared imaginative and prescient of each nations to boost bilateral defence ties, cooperation and collaboration by way of sturdy people-to-people hyperlinks,” stated one other official.
As India’s first Chief of Defence Staff, Gen Rawat was spearheading an initiative to deliver convergence within the functioning of the Army, the Navy and the Indian Air Force and bolster the nation’s general military prowess.
