Context:

• Joint bilateral training exercise between Indian Army and Malaysian Army "Exercise Harimau Shakti 2023" began at Umroi Cantonment, India.

 Key Points:

• The Malaysian contingent comprises soldiers from the 5th Royal Battalion of the Malaysian Army.
• The Indian contingent is represented by a battalion of the Rajput Regiment.
•   The previous edition of this exercise was conducted in November 2022 at Pulai, Kluang, Malaysia.
• Exercise “Harimau Shakti 2023” will run till 5 November 2023.
• About 120 soldiers from both sides will be involved in this.
• This training exercise will mainly focus on maintaining a high level of physical fitness, conducting exercises at tactical level and sharing best practices with each other.
• The exercise will conclude with a 48-hour long validation exercise in a semi-urban area.
• The aim is to increase the level of defence cooperation between the Indian Army and the Malaysian Army, which will also boost bilateral relations between the two countries.
• Exercise Harimau Shakti is an annual training exercise between the Indian and Malaysian armies and is being conducted since 2012.

 Objective:

• The objective is to enhance military capability to conduct multi-domain operations in sub-conventional scenarios.
• During the training exercise, both sides will establish a joint command post and create an integrated monitoring grid with a joint monitoring centre.
• Both the teams will discuss logistics management and survival training exercises at the battalion level.

 Important Facts for exam - 

• India established diplomatic relations with Malaysia in 1957.
• India's Current Army Chief: General Manoj Pandey
• Chief of Defence Staff: General Anil Chauhan
• Defence Minister: Rajnath Singh

 Malaysia

• Capital: Kuala Lumpur
• Continent: Asia
• Prime Minister: Anwar Ibrahim
• Official language: Malay