The I Edition of Joint Table Top Exercise (CINBAX) between the Indian Army and the Cambodian Army was held at :
- (1)Mumbai
- (2)Pune
- (3)Jodhpur
- (4)Bhubaneswar
Answer
Why
Correct — option (2), Pune.
The Ministry of Defence announced through PIB on 1 December 2024 that the 1st edition of the Joint Table Top Exercise CINBAX, between the Indian Army and the Cambodian Army, had commenced at the Foreign Training Node, Pune.
The exercise was scheduled to run from 1 to 8 December 2024. Each army sent 20 personnel, and the Indian contingent came from an Infantry Brigade.
CINBAX was a planning exercise to wargame joint counter-terrorism operations under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter, with UN peacekeeping missions as the setting.
The idea to remember: CINBAX, India and Cambodia, 1st edition at the Foreign Training Node, Pune, 1–8 December 2024.
Why the others are wrong
- (1)Mumbai — Mumbai is also in Maharashtra, but it was not the venue. Mumbai is home to the headquarters of the Indian Navy's Western Naval Command.
CINBAX was an Army table-top exercise. PIB's release of 1 December 2024 places it at the Foreign Training Node in Pune.
- (3)Jodhpur — Jodhpur hosted a different exercise in 2024. In September 2024 the Indian Air Force was conducting the multinational air exercise Tarang Shakti-24 there, with the India Defence Aviation Exposition IDAX-24 scheduled there for 12–14 September.
CINBAX, an Army exercise with Cambodia, was held in Pune in December 2024.
- (4)Bhubaneswar — Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, was not the venue.
The Ministry of Defence's release of 1 December 2024 places the first CINBAX at the Foreign Training Node, Pune, from 1 to 8 December 2024, with 20 personnel from each army.
Concept
A table-top exercise is a planning exercise. Commanders and staff war-game a scenario through discussion and tactical problems, instead of moving troops in the field.
CINBAX was built around counter-terrorism under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, the chapter on action with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression. UN peacekeeping supplied the setting.
PIB lists, among other topics, the ground it was to cover: a Joint Training Task Force for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, planning operations in a counter-terrorism environment, information operations, cyber and hybrid warfare, logistics and casualty management, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR).
RPSC's 2024 syllabus lists "Major Current Events and Issues of Rajasthan, India and International Importance" under Current Affairs. Defence exercises with partner countries fall under that line.
Cambodia is a Southeast Asian member of ASEAN, with its capital at Phnom Penh. PIB says the inaugural CINBAX aimed at trust, camaraderie and interoperability between the two armies, and at joint operational efficiency in peacekeeping operations.
PIB also says the exercise would showcase weapons and equipment of Indian origin, promoting Atmanirbharta, or self-reliance, in defence production.
Key facts
- The 1st edition of India–Cambodia Joint Table Top Exercise CINBAX began at the Foreign Training Node, Pune, on 1 December 2024, scheduled to run until 8 December.
- Each army sent 20 personnel; India's contingent came from an Infantry Brigade.
- CINBAX was a planning exercise aimed at wargaming joint counter-terrorism operations under Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter.
- It was planned in three phases: orientation for counter-terrorism in UN peacekeeping, the table-top exercises, and finalisation of plans with summing up.
- The exercise was to showcase weapons and equipment of Indian origin, promoting Atmanirbharta in defence production.
Source: Ministry of Defence release on PIB, 1 December 2024.
Study next
Common traps
- Choosing Mumbai because it is the better-known Maharashtra city. The venue was the Foreign Training Node in Pune.
- Choosing Jodhpur because a multinational exercise was held there in 2024. That was the Air Force's Tarang Shakti-24, in September 2024, not an Army exercise with Cambodia.
- Picturing troops in the field. CINBAX was a table-top planning exercise, built on war-gaming and situation-based discussion.
A question can ask where the first edition of a bilateral exercise was held, or which country is India's partner in it. A question can also ask what kind of exercise it was, or under which chapter of the UN Charter its scenario was set.
Related PYQs
UnlockIAS will link similar questions from RAS Pre 2018 here once that paper is published on this site.
Practice
- practice — not a real PYQ
Exercise CINBAX, whose first edition was held in Pune in December 2024, is a joint exercise between the Indian Army and the army of which country?
- (a)Cambodia
- (b)Cameroon
- (c)Chile
- (d)Cyprus
Answer(1) — PIB describes CINBAX as a Joint Table Top Exercise between the Indian Army and the Cambodian Army. Options (2), (3) and (4) are not India's partner in CINBAX. - practice — not a real PYQ
Exercise CINBAX (December 2024) was planned to wargame joint counter-terrorism operations under which chapter of the United Nations Charter?
- (a)Chapter V
- (b)Chapter VI
- (c)Chapter VII
- (d)Chapter XIV
Answer(3) — Chapter VII covers action with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace and acts of aggression. Option (1) deals with the Security Council's composition and functions; option (2) with the pacific settlement of disputes; option (4) with the International Court of Justice.