Last Monday, the Indian and French navy completed their second cooperative mission in the western Indian Ocean. India’s focus in the Indian Ocean region on integrating new technologies, expanding the maritime surveillance, and the anti-submarine welfare cooperation can’t be underestimated. India is expecting an Australian maritime patrol aircraft P-8 at the end of this month itself.
This joint patrolling was held for 5 days starting from May 9 to 13. In the South-western Indian Ocean, an indian navy P-8I aircraft was deployed from the French island of La Reunion to conduct ” joint surveillance and patrolling operations” with the French Navy.
The first edition of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) Maritime Exercise 2022 (IMEX-22) was co-led by India and France off the coast of Goa, with the goal of improving interoperability in humanitarian assistance and disaster relief (HADR) operations among member navies. The deployment included two French Floréal class surveillance frigates, the Floréal and the Nivôse, with a concentration on anti-smuggling. This type of mission exemplifies how Indo-French naval cooperation contributes to regional security.
During the deployment, the Indian Navy announced that the P8I aircraft will engage with French warships operating in the region and conduct coordinated surveillance missions to promote maritime safety and security in the Southern Indian Ocean, particularly the Mozambique Channel.
The top priorities especially for India and Quad countries have shifted their attention towards the Indian Ocean region due to the increasing presence of Chinese naval ships. The anti-submarine welfare (ASW) corporation and maritime domain awareness are at the top priority list, especially in bilateral exercises and Malabar exercises between the Quad countries.
An Indian Navy P-8I from the INAS 312 ‘Albatross’ squadron was in Darwin, Australia, last month, where it took part in coordinated activities in “ASW and surface surveillance” to improve MDA with Royal Australian AirForce P-8 aircraft (RAAW). In mid-april, an Indian Navy P-8I Neptune collaborated withone of our P-8A Poseidons over several days to undertake coordinated maritime surveillance missions in the waters to our north, the RAAF said.
The Indian Navy conducts cooperative excl usive economic zone (EEZ) surveillance with the Maldives, Seychelles, and Mauritius, as well as coordinated patrols (CORPAT) with Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia, as part of the ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and larger maritime cooperation.
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