In a first, India, EU carry out joint naval drills in Gulf of Guinea

The exercise was followed by a knowledge sharing session in Accra, Ghana which built on the joint experience at sea to improve operational know-how.

New Delhi: India and the European Union (EU) on Thursday conducted their maiden joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Guinea on the west coast of Africa in a bid to boost maritime security cooperation to support the region.

India’s first naval engagement with the 27-member European bloc comes three weeks after officials from both sides met at Brussels to announce strengthening naval engagements to curb illicit maritime exercise and carry out law enforcement.

During the exercise, Indian Navy’s INS Sumedha, an Offshore Patrol Vessel, was joined by three EU Member States’ ships in the Gulf of Guinea—Italian Navy Ship ITS Foscari, French Navy Ship FS Ventôse, and Spanish Navy Ship Tornado.

The four ships practised a series of tactical manoeuvers in international waters off the coast of Ghana, including a boarding exercise, a flying exercise using the helicopters embarked on Ventôse and INS Sumedha, and transfer of personnel between ships.

Such drills, according to an Indian Navy statement, underlined the shared commitment of India and the EU to support the Yaoundé Architecture (a regional maritime security structure for west Africa) in ensuring maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, signalling a common determination to uphold the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea.

The Indian Navy conducts regular bilateral naval exercises with the French Navy and also had engagements in the past with the Italian Navy.

This exercise was followed by a knowledge sharing session in Accra, Ghana which built on the joint experience at sea to improve operational know-how. The session also helped deepen ties between Ghanaian officials and representatives of the Indian and EU member states missions to Ghana.

At the third India-EU maritime security dialogue at Brussels, officials from India and EU explored avenues to strengthen their shared efforts in areas such as countering illicit maritime activities, maritime law enforcement and capability building, the Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement earlier this month.

This is the Indian Navy’s second combat drill with a group of nations after the inaugural maritime exercise in May with ASEAN at Changi naval base.