Nueva Delhi: India will now perform a great naval exercise called ‘Aikeyme’ with 10 African countries, as part of the continuous military dissemination towards the continent, where China has made important strategic incursions, even while maintaining a close vigilance of threats raised by Somali pirates and Houthi rebels in the region.
The Navy will also launch another single initiative called ‘Ship of the Indian Ocean (iOS) Sagar’, under which a combined crew of Indian sailors and 44 people from nine foreign countries will handle the patrol vessel of Patrol Costa outside Sunayna during its deployment to the southwest Indian Ocean region (IOR) from April 8 until May 8.
“In the last 10 years, the Navy of India has deepened its associations with the armed and agencies of Ior countries to improve maritime security in the consonance with the vision of the government of” Sagar “(safety and growth for all in the region)”, the chief vicecaminar of the Navy, the Admiral, Tarun Sbti, on Monday.
“With the announcement of ‘Mahaasagar’ (mutual and holistic advance of security in all regions) by the Prime Minister during his visit to Mauricio in March, Aikeyme and iOS Sagar, first of his kind initiatives, are aimed at consolidating the statistics of India as the ‘preferred security partner’ and the first respondent in the Ior,” he said.
While the attacks of Somali and rebel pirates Hutis in the region have retreated since December, an Indian war ship is permanently displayed in the Gulf of Adén and the adjacent seas, and more will be sent if the piracy wins “ancestry” again, added the deputy director.
The AIKEYME Multinations exercise, or the “Key Maritime Commitment of Aphric-India India”, will be carried out from Dar-Es-Salaam in Tanzania from April 13 to 18. “We are looking for exercise to be a biennial effort,” this time includes East Africa countries. In the next edition, we will invite the countries in Western Africa, which makes a biennial effort, “which includes Eastern Africa countries.
The countries that participate in Aikeyme, which will be inaugurated by Defense Minister Rajnath Singh, include Tanzania (which is coanfrerion), Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauricio, Mozambique, Seychelles and South Africa.
The exercise will focus on the VBSS exercises (search and seizure visit of the plate), gun shots, helicopter operations, seafood evolutions, search and rescue missions, among others. “There will also be table table and command exercises in Operations against piracy and share information, ”said Vice Admiral Sobti.
India and Africa give great importance to maritime security and have reiterated their commitment to increase cooperation to address threats such as piracy, drug smuggling, traffic and other illegal activities by sharing information and surveillance, he added.
The iOS Sagar, in turn, will see 44 personnel, who is already in training in Kochi, by Sri Lanka, Maldivas, Mauricio, Comoros, Kenia, Madagascar, Mozambique, Seychelles and South Africa aboard Sunayna, who will sail from Karwar on April 5.
The war ship will make port calls to Dar-Es-Salaam, Nacala, Port Louis, Port Victoria and Male, as will undertake the Joint Surveillance of EEES of Tanzania, Mozambique, Mauricio and Seychelles.