Tri-services Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief Exercise: PANEX-21 for BIMSTEC Member States is currently underway from 20-22 December 2021 in Pune, organised by the Southern Command of the Indian Army.
The objective of this 3rd Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) Exercise is to foster joint planning and preparation to institutionalize regional cooperation and inter-governmental efforts amongst BIMSTEC Member States to respond dynamically to a natural disaster in the backdrop of a viral pandemic.
The Joint HADR Exercise ‘PANEX-21’ organized over three days provides an opportunity to asses and evaluate the efficiency of plans and procedures to deal with a natural disaster in the backdrop of a pandemic and also enhance mutual understanding and sharing of best practices amongst disaster management experts of the BIMSTEC region. Delegates from all BIMSTEC Member States are participating in the exercise physically or virtually.
Chief of Army Staff of the Indian Army, General MM Naravane delivered the Keynote Address as the Chief Guest in the Seminar held on the opening day (20 December) of the three-day exercise. In his Keynote Address, General MM Naravane highlighted that PANEX-21 is another step forward in the endeavour for greater mutual cooperation in Disaster Management among BIMSTEC countries.
Day 2 – 21 December, saw a Multi-Agency Exercise (MAE) to exercise the Disaster Management (DM) structures in handling the dual challenges of earthquake and flood in the backdrop of a pandemic followed by a static display.
Day 3 – 22 December, is devoted to a Table Top Exercise (TTX) to wargame Disaster Management plans in the pandemic situation with sequential build up.
The first BIMSTEC Disaster Management Exercise (DMEx) was organized by India on 10-13 October 2017 in New Delhi, and the second BIMSTEC DMEx on 11-13 February 2020, in Odisha.
