Indian and French navies have been regularly holding bilateral naval exercises since 1993….reports Asian Lite News
Indian and French naval ships on Friday held a Maritime Partnership Exercise in the Bay of Bengal, adding further boost to defence relationship between the two countries.
In a statement released on Saturday, the Ministry of Defence said that Indian Navy’s INS Rana, a guided missile destroyer, and INS Sumedha, an indigenously built offshore patrol vessel undertook a Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) with French Navy ship FS Surcouf, in the Bay of Bengal on June 30.
The Ministry said the French Navy’s La Fayette class frigate Surcouf visited Visakhapatnam from June 26 to 29, 2023 and participated in a variety of activities with Indian Navy ships which included professional and social interactions, sports fixtures, and cross deck visits.
On departure from Visakhapatnam, FS Surcouf undertook various exercises with IN ships Rana and Sumedha, which included tactical manoeuvres, replenishment at sea (RAS) approaches, air defence against fighter aircraft and cross deck helicopter operations.
The MPX culminated with a customary farewell steampast between the ships reaffirming the close friendship between the two navies.
The visit of FS Surcouf to India signifies the strong navy-to-navy links, interoperability and strong bonds between Indian Navy and French Navy.
Earlier this year, FS La Fayette, a frigate and FS Dixmude, a Mistral-class amphibious assault class ship had participated in an MPX with INS Sahyadri, a guided missile frigate from March 10 to 11, 2023.
Indian and French navies have been regularly holding bilateral naval exercises since 1993.
In 2001, this exercise was christened as ‘VARUNA’ and has become a hallmark of India-France strategic bilateral relationship since then.
The 21st edition of the bilateral naval exercise between India and France – ‘Exercise Varuna’ was held at the Western Seaboard on January 16-20, 2023.
This edition witnessed participation of indigenous guided missile stealth destroyer INS Chennai, guided missile frigate INS Teg, maritime patrol aircraft P-8I and Dornier, integral helicopters and MiG29K fighter aircraft.
The French Navy was represented by the aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle, frigates FS Forbin and Provence, support vessel FS Marne and maritime patrol aircraft Atlantique.
The exercise, conducted over five days, witnessed advanced air defence exercises, tactical manoeuvres, surface firings, underway replenishment, and other maritime operations.
Besides bilateral exercises, Indian and French navies have also been participating in multinational naval drills.
This year on June 7, the first edition of the trilateral-India, France and UAE Maritime Partnership Exercise was held in the Gulf of Oman.
The two-day exercise witnessed India Navy’s INS Tarkash and French Navy’s Surcouf –both with integral helicopters, French Rafale aircraft and UAE Navy’s Maritime Patrol Aircraft engaging in a wide spectrum of naval operations such as surface warfare, tactical firing, and drill for missile engagements on surface targets, helicopter cross deck landing operations, advanced air defence exercise and boarding operations.
The India-France-UAE Maritime Partnership Exercise also saw enhanced collaboration in ensuring safety of mercantile trade and freedom of navigation at high seas in the region.