In the dead of night, two groups of Blue Nation’s marine commandos sailing on motorised rafts arrived at the Madhavpur beach of Green Nation, which had been taken over by terrorists of Islamic Red Nation. A madrasa nearby, which had been turned into a terrorist camp, was the target of Blue Nation’s armed forces. They responded to an SOS call by the hydrocarbon-rich Green Nation.

A fierce gun-battle ensued. The commandos, supported by fighter jets, captured the beach and sent a signal to the flotilla of Landing Platform Docks. Immediately, the vessels released tanks that reached the shore in no time and unleashed a three-pronged attack using armoured personnel carriers and infantry. Within an hour, terrorist camps were destroyed and Madhavpur was captured.

On Monday, Madhavpur beach in Porbandar district, which is located only a few miles from the International Maritime Border Line with Pakistan, became a war zone. The Indian Army, Navy and the Air Force conducted the largest-ever joint amphibious exercise in the country. Code-named Exercise Tropex-2009, the war games involved over 4,000 personnel of 9 Infantry Brigade, with tanks and BMPs, guns and engineering equipment. A huge fleet of nine ships, aircrafts, fighter jets and a submarine were also part of the exercise.

The most complex military manoeuvres involving coordination and synergy from conceptualisation to planning and execution, were demonstrated on the shores of Madhavpur. The Coast Guard was also a part of it. Joint capabilities of the three services to strike the enemy were demonstrated amply in the programme. This is for the first time the Joint Doctrine on Amphibious Warfare of Indian Armed Forces, formulated in 2008, was put into practice in its full scope.

The military top brass were all praise for the participants. It was hailed as a display of a very high degree of jointmanship between the three services.

“This was the largest exercise ever conducted. We have done what is considered a very complex exercise that calls for high level co-ordination and synergy between all three military wings,” said Vice-Admiral J S Bedi, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command.

Lieutenant General Pradeep Khanna, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command, said, “So far, this had been only a part of the classroom. For the first time, it has become a reality and that too on a large scale.”

“Correct sequence and time displayed during the exercise indicates good coordination between all the three wings,” said Air Marshal K D Singh, Air Officer Commanding-in-Chief, South Western Air Command.

The exercise has come at a time when tensions between India and Pakistan have been escalating. However, the officers denied any connection with the post 26/11 rhetoric between the two countries. Brigadier Cherish Mathose, commander of 91 Brigade, said terms like ‘militants from Islamic nations’ and ‘Madrasa’ were simply a part of the story and nothing else.

The pre-assault planning, and mobilisation having been achieved at Karwar in Goa on February 5, the troops landed on Madhavpur four days later using the newly inducted LPD INS Jalashwar, several landing ships, tanks, helicopters, shore-based aircraft, a submarine and hovercrafts.