Chief of the Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi is scheduled to commence a pivotal diplomatic tour on January 5, 2026, targeting the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Sri Lanka to fortify bilateral defence cooperation and military-to-military relations, as confirmed by official Indian Army announcements and Press Information Bureau releases from January 4. The visit marks the first major overseas outreach by the Army Chief in 2026, amid India's strategic focus on West Asia and the Indian Ocean Region.
The itinerary begins with the UAE leg from January 5 to 6, where General Dwivedi is set to receive a ceremonial Guard of Honour from the UAE Land Forces upon landing in Abu Dhabi. High-level consultations with senior UAE Armed Forces officials, including the Commander of the UAE Land Forces, will feature comprehensive briefings on the UAE Army's organizational framework, operational mandates, and cutting-edge capabilities, building on recent momentum in India-UAE defence ties evidenced by joint exercises and technology transfers.
Further UAE engagements encompass inspections of critical military facilities, firsthand interactions with UAE officers and enlisted personnel, and a formal address at the UAE National Defence College to all attending officers. These structured activities aim to amplify professional military dialogues, cultivate shared strategic perspectives, and elevate the burgeoning defence alliance, which has seen expanded scope through agreements on logistics support and counter-terrorism intelligence sharing since 2023.
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The tour proceeds to Sri Lanka for January 7 to 8, with another Guard of Honour by the Sri Lanka Army upon arrival in Colombo. General Dwivedi will conduct in-depth deliberations with prominent figures such as the Commander of the Sri Lanka Army, Deputy Minister of Defence, and Defence Secretary, addressing joint training regimens, institutional capacity augmentation, and collaborative approaches to regional security challenges like maritime domain awareness and non-traditional threats in the Indian Ocean.
In Sri Lanka, the Army Chief plans to deliver a lecture at the Defence Services Command and Staff College (DSCSC), engage with faculty and trainees at the Army War College in Buttala, and lay a wreath at the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) War Memorial to honor Indian troops' sacrifices during the 1987-1990 operations. This comprehensive visit, still in its preparatory phase as of this morning, reinforces India's dedication to defence capacity-building, historical solidarity, and operational synergy with regional partners, fostering enduring trust amid evolving geopolitical dynamics.
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