The 8th edition of the annual joint military exercise ‘Ekatha’, conducted by the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) and the Indian Army, concluded successfully on 17 December with a formal closing ceremony held at the MNDF Central Area Command Headquarters.
The exercise, which ran from 20 November to 17 December, aimed to strengthen bilateral defense cooperation and enhance interoperability between the two nations’ armed forces.
Maldives’ Chief of Defence Force, Major General Ibrahim Hilmy, presided over the ceremony, underscoring the strategic importance of the drills in bolstering regional security and tactical readiness.
Participating troops included elite units from the MNDF Marine Corps Special Operations Group, Marine Corps, Marine Deployment Units (MDUs), Adjutant Generals Corps, and Service Corps.
The intensive training programme featured advanced combat drills such as close quarters battle, breaching techniques, live firing, Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure (VBSS) operations, special heliborne insertions, underwater demolition, and air diving using surface-supplied systems.
The event was also attended by Indian High Commissioner to the Maldives G. Balasubramanian, Indian Navy Deputy Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti, and Indian Defence Attaché to the Maldives, Captain Deepak Bali.