Jinja (Uganda): Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Sunday inaugurated a military war game centre in Jinja district, which was built with the help of the Indian community in Uganda and the Indian Military training team for Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF).
While inaugurating the war game centre at the Uganda Senior Command and Staff College in Kimaka in Jinja District, the President commended the India for its continued cooperation and support to Uganda, especially on the economic front.
“This centre is also a great gesture of the wider cooperation and support we enjoy with the government and the people of India,”Mr Museveni said.
He also hailed the relationship between the UPDF and the Indian army which he said has a lot of knowledge, experience and heroism.
“Our relationship with India has existed for centuries. We were colonised together by a small group of people who came from Europe, but when we all woke up, and the small groups ran away. During that time, we fought together first against the Japanese in Burma. The heroic Indians are the ones who stopped the westward expansion of Japan at the famous battle of Kohima,” he said.
The war game centre is named ''INDIA'' and is a type of strategy game that simulates warfare realistically, as opposed to abstract strategy games such as chess.
Brigadier Ranjit Singh, Head of the Indian military team said that it is a fitting token of gratitude from the Indian community of Uganda for the UPDF, which has been the stabilising force in Uganda and the region for over three decades.
The war game centre, constructed with an amount of over 1 billion Ugandan Shillings ($265,000), has been funded by voluntary contributions from Ugandans of Indian origin.
Lieutenant General Andrew Gutti, Commandant of Senior Command and Staff College, where the War Game Centre has been constructed, highlighted that the Indian Military Training Team has been a trusted partner of UPDF over many years.
He said that the landmark training aid will help make the UPDF Senior Command and Staff College a centre of excellence in the entire region and it will remain a lasting symbol of the special bond that Indians in Uganda share with UPDF and India shares with Uganda.
President Museveni also appreciated the Indian political class for working hand in hand with Uganda and cited renowned leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru and current Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
On the developmental contributions, he hailed the Indian society for their role in industrialization and to some extent in the agricultural sector of Uganda.
He urged them to continue investing in the country for the betterment of its economy.
“After Amin, they helped us repair the economy. I love their philanthropist work but they should mainly focus on investing more in the country,” he said.
In his speech, the Commandant of the college, Oguti Andrew noted that while war gaming would not necessarily guarantee success, well-executed war games had in most cases delivered significant comparative advantage in numerous campaigns.
He also said that the center would not only benefit the college but also the UPDF, which would strongly help in its transformation. He saluted the Indian community for being a peace-loving and development-oriented people.
Chairman of the Indian association of Uganda, Mohana Rao hailed President Museveni for the 34 years of peace attributed to the good leadership of the NRM government and also appreciated the UPDF for the boundless peace that they have enjoyed in Uganda.
“I always state that our stay in Uganda is summarized in the 3P’s, peace, prosperity and profit and this is because of the President’s selfless sacrifice,” he said.
He explained that the Indian government had built the war game center as a token of appreciation for the highly disciplined UPDF and for their role in safe guarding the peace that both the Ugandans and Indians enjoy.
The centre, he added, would be of great benefit not only to Uganda but to the East African region in training peace keeping troops that would cross the continent and beyond.
The Indian association donated a vehicle and other equipment to the government to help in medical services during the COVID Fight.
