The first Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise of the Indian Air Force in association with South Asian Region nations will be held off the coast of Kerala from March 12 to 17. The multilateral exercise named 'Samvedna' is the first composite HADR exercise in the South Asian Region and would involve representatives from air forces of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and the UAE, a defence release said here today. The objective of the exercise is to galvanise all stakeholders in synergising a unified HADR efforts, it said. The entire settings of the exercise is based on a scenario of a tsunami in the western coast of India originating from an earthquake in Makran subduction zone and resulting in post-tsunami disaster management along the western coast and western islands of India. According to the release, the exercise, hosted by the Southern Air Command, will provide a clear understanding of the scope, role and task, including challenges in air operations and ensure better understanding, and sharing of response procedures among the nations. The broad format of the exercise will include ground training and flying exercise. This exercise, being spearheaded by the IAF, is the first step by air forces of the region to practice and evolve a joint HADR capability, the release said, adding it will help in putting in place a basic framework for conducting Joint Air HADR operations, which will be further refined by subsequent exercises. This step is likely to lead to more coordinated and efficient HADR air operations in the entire South Asian region as and when the need arises, it said.
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