The Nigerian Army, NA, has expressed its readiness to pursue effective collaboration with her Indian counterpart on capacity development.
According to the Chief of Army Staff, COAS, Lt Gen. Faruk Yahaya, who disclosed this when he received a delegation from Defence Scoping of India, at the Army headquarters, Thursday, 16 September, the bilateral collaboration would be in the areas of military training, health and technology among others.
TheFact Nigeria recalls that Nigeria and India have, in the recent past, worked out strategies on how to strengthen the bilateral relations between both countries, especially on economic development, trade and investment, counter-terrorism, defence and maritime security. Both countries have also had extensive cooperation in the field of defence training and capacity building and expressed satisfaction that it was expanding to newer areas such as defence equipment support, medical and maintenance services, sharing of R&D expertise for counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency, and regular exchange of information/views.
Lieutenant General Yahaya noted that India has enormous potentials that the NA could explore in support of its training and operations, and further stated that Nigeria and India have historical ties that are mutually beneficial.
While commending the delegation for the visit, he reiterated that the collaboration would facilitate information sharing and exchange of experiences in military development.
He noted that the NA could further develop the capacity of its medical personnel and enhance technological capacity in aid of military operations.
In his remarks, the leader of the delegation, Lieutenant General Vinod Khandare (rtd), who is the Military Adviser to National Council of India, stated that he was at Army Headquarters to explore frontiers for effective collaboration between both countries.
Khandare assured the Nigerian Army Chief of India’s desire to continually assist and cooperate with the NA in the areas of training, human capacity development and other viable areas.
The Military Adviser to National Council of India, said the visit would equally enhance the historical ties between the two countries, adding that the envisaged areas of training would sharpen the skills of NA personnel.
Lt Gen Khandare further gave assurances that the Government of India will continue to support the NA in providing the necessary skills that would enhance troops’ capacity in ongoing military operations.
