Context:

Thailand is hosting the 13th edition of the India-Thailand joint military exercise Maitree.

More on the news

• The exercise is scheduled to be conducted from 1st to 15th July 2024 at Fort Vachiraprakan in Tak Province, Thailand.
• The Indian Army contingent, comprising 76 personnel, is mainly represented by a Battalion of the Ladakh scouts.

Significance of the exercise

• The Exercise will enhance combined capabilities in executing Joint Counter Insurgency/ Terrorist Operations in Jungle and Urban Environments under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
  The Charter of the United Nations is the founding document of the United Nations.
• It will enable the two sides to share their best practices in Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures for the conduct of joint operations. 
• It will enhance interoperability, camaraderie, and cooperation between the soldiers of both countries.
• The focus will be on physical fitness, joint planning, and tactical drills.

About Military exercises Maitree

• It is a bilateral exercise first started in 2006 between the Indian Army and the Royal Thai Army.
• Originally called the Thai-Indian Cooperation Field Exercise (TICAFE), the name was changed to Maitree in 2013, aptly meaning "friendship" in Hindi.
• Though it was an annual exercise the last edition of the same exercise was conducted at Umroi, Meghalaya in September 2019.