Indian Air Force To Host France's Air And Space Force In Jodhpur For "Ex-Desert Knight 21" Exercise

The Indian Air Force (IAF) is set up to host France's Air and Space Force (Armée de l’Air et de I’Espace) at its station in Jodhpur where the two forces are will partake in Ex-Desert Knight 21 bilateral exercise, reports Livemint.

To start on 20 January, the bilateral exercise would go on till 24 January and aim at providing both the forces opportunity to gain operational exposure and share best practices towards enhancement of combat capability.

Both the forces will bring in their fighter, transport, and tanker aircraft to participate in the exercise. The French forces are presently deployed in Asia as a part of their 'Skyros Deployment'.

It should be noted that the Ex-Desert Knight 21 bilateral exercise comes in addition to the 'Garuda' series of exercises which the two air forces also engage in to enhance and further the mutual co-operation by making use of the available opportunities for fruitful interaction.

This gains significance as India and France have been witnessing a deepening of thaw over the years, with the European nation continuing to emerge as a key strategic partner for India across areas like defence, technology, space, diplomacy, smart cities and waste management. The two nations have also been collaborating at the United Nations on issues like terrorism.