This year marks 30 years since the initiation of the exercise

India, Sri Lanka and Maldives have begun their five-day joint biennial military exercise,’ Dosti' from Saturday.

The aim of India-Maldives-Sri Lanka tri-lateral exercise ‘DOSTI’ is to further bolster the friendship, enhance mutual operational capability, and exercise interoperability and to build cooperation between the Coast Guards of the three countries.

Exercises carried out over the past ten years focused on exercises and drills on providing assistance in sea accidents, the responsibility of the Coast Guard on eliminating sea pollution, and the Coast Guard's procedure and conduct during situations such as oil spills.

The Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) said Indian Coast Guard vessels, ICGS Vajra, ICGS Apoorva and, Sri Lanka Coast Guard, SLCGS Suraksha have arrived in Maldives for the exercise.

The exercise, which commenced on November 20, will continue till November 24. This year marks 30 years since the initiation of the exercise.

Exercise Dosti was initiated in 1991, and the Maldives and Indian Coast Guard have collaborated on conducting the exercise since then. Sri Lanka joined the exercise for the first time in 2012.

Marking the 30 years since initiation of exercise ‘Dosti’, the 15th edition of the India-Maldives-Srilanka trilateral maritime exercise ‘Dosti’ is being conducted from November 20-24.

Earlier in July this year, top defence officials from India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives participated in a virtual trilateral tabletop exercise ‘TTX-2021’, where they discussed best practices and procedures for countering common transnational maritime crime like curbing narcotics and assistance in maritime search and rescue.

The two-day exercise, from July 14-15 was aimed at enhancing mutual understanding and exchange of best practices procedures for countering common transnational crime was coordinated by the Maritime Warfare Centre, Mumbai, the Indian High Commission in Maldives had said.