PUNE: It was an enriching and unique experience for a staff Sergent Ngala EN - one of the women soldiers of the Zambia Army, who learned various tactics of combat engineering over a 10-day long India- African nations joint exercise - AFINDEX that culminated on Wednesday at the Shivneri Infantry brigade here at Aundh.

Ngala, who served over ten years in the Corps of Engineers of Zambia, told TOI on the sidelines of the exercise, "The Zambia Army does not use dogs and machines for identification of mines and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). For the first time, I witnessed how dogs are being trained and used for detecting IEDs. That was a great learning experience for me. Also, I learn how Indian troops use robots effectively for various purposes in combat engineering operations. I learn how to operate these robots and other systems."

Ngala was one among 10 soldiers felicitated for performing excellently during the exercise.

"It was a great honour for me to get the award for the effort that I put in over the last ten days in the exercise," she said.

The woman soldier was impressed with the logistics arrangements of the exercise and Indian food.

"I loved having sweet items and local foods. Chapati was something that I had for the first time in the food. I would miss it once I return home. But I will try to cook it at home," she added.

Other participant soldiers talked highly about Indian Army's hospitality and positive approach towards the African troops.

Colonel Oyoo, Military Attache of Uganda in India, told TOI, "The exercise was conducted professionally and holistically. It was a great learning experience for the troops of the participant countries. They would certainly benefit from it while operating in their respective countries."

"It was my sixth trip to Pune. Before the exercise, I had come to interact with students studying in Pune. I am impressed with the conducive weather conditions of the city," said a military attache of the Zimbabwe Army.

The 2nd edition of the joint military exercise “The Africa-India Field Training Exercise (AFINDEX-2023)” culminated on Wednesday at Foreign Training Node (FTN), Aundh, Pune.

A total of 25 nations of the African continent with 124 participants and Indian troops from the Sikh, Maratha and Mahar regiments participated in the multinational exercise.

The exercise aimed to build positive military relations, imbibe each other’s best practices and promote the ability to operate together while undertaking the execution of Humanitarian Mine Action (HMA) and Peace Keeping Operations (PKO) under the UN mandate.

The bonhomie, esprit-de-corps and goodwill generated during the exercise will go a long way in further strengthening the bonds between the armies by enabling understanding of each other’s organisation and methodology of conducting various operations, said the army officers.