Exercise MAITREE-XV combat skills training has moved into martial arts, close quarter battle and explosive threat recognition this week, according to defence sources familiar with the ongoing 15th edition of the exercise at Vibhavadi Rangsit Camp in Surat Thani, Thailand.

The Indian Army contingent, which departed for Thailand on 17 August, had already worked through jungle survival, trench clearing and UAV integration drills earlier in the fortnight.

Muay Thai gives way to AMAR

The Royal Thai Army opened the latest phase with a demonstration of Muay Thai, the striking art built on coordinated use of fists, elbows, knees and shins. The Indian Army contingent answered with its own system, the Army Martial Arts Routine, known by its acronym AMAR, a structured close combat and self defence programme built for soldiers rather than the ring.

Both drills leaned on physical conditioning, discipline and combat readiness, the sources said.

AMAR has turned up at other Indian Army exercises abroad this year, including a martial arts display at the India Cultural Evening during Exercise Khaan Quest 2026 in Ulaanbaatar in July. At MAITREE-XV, the exchange doubled as an icebreaker between contingents that would spend the following days training together in semi urban environments.


Exercise MAITREE-XV combat skills move into semi urban drills

The Indian Army contingent shared its operational experience through demonstrations and joint practice in Mobile Vehicle Check Post drills, cordon and search operations and room intervention techniques, built around coordinated action, tactical precision and situational awareness in semi urban environments.

Troops from 9 Gorkha Rifles paired with the Royal Thai Army's 3rd Battalion, 25th Infantry Brigade for the cordon and search runs, isolating an area before a room by room search, with steady radio contact kept between the search team and the perimeter holding the cordon.

IED recognition folded into the drills

Training in the identification of Improvised Explosive Devices and counter IED measures let both contingents exchange procedures for recognising potential threats and responding safely, the sources said. Ordnance types and a device count went unstated.

A fortnight built on the 2025 edition

Exercise MAITREE-XV runs from 18 to 31 August at Vibhavadi Rangsit Camp. Eighty five personnel each from the Indian Army and the Royal Thai Army are taking part, the Indian side drawn primarily from 9 Gorkha Rifles and the Thai side from the 3rd Battalion, 25th Infantry Brigade.

It is the 15th edition of an exercise instituted in 2006. The previous edition was held at the Foreign Training Node in Umroi, Meghalaya, last September.

Company level cooperation under a UN mandate

The exercise aims to enhance interoperability and military cooperation between the two armies through company level joint training in counter insurgency and counter terrorism operations, conducted under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, according to the Ministry of Defence.

The current phase of Exercise MAITREE-XV combat skills training is expected to run into a validation exercise before the 31 August close.