Maiden India-Africa naval drill to take off on Sunday

Setting off at Dar-es-Salaam from Sunday, the six-day exercise named AIKEYME (Africa India Key Maritime Engagement) will have the sea phase between April 16–18. The sea phase will be preceded by the harbour phase.

New Delhi: With sea-bandits posing a major challenge in the high seas between India and Africa, the first India–Africa naval exercise involving 10 nations will commence on Sunday with a special focus on anti-piracy drills.

Setting off at Dar-es-Salaam from Sunday, the six-day exercise named AIKEYME (Africa India Key Maritime Engagement) will have the sea phase between April 16–18, for which guided missile destroyer INS Chennai and landing ship tank (large) INS Kesari have reached Tanzania. The sea phase will be preceded by the harbour phase.

Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Dinesh Tripathi will be in Tanzania for the next few days overseeing the exercise and having talks with his counterparts from other countries.

Besides India and Tanzania, who are co-hosting the drill, other participants are Comoros, Djibouti, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles and South Africa.

Planned activities during this phase include table-top and command post exercises focused on anti-piracy ops and information sharing, alongside joint training in seamanship and visit, board, search and seizure drills in collaboration with the Tanzanian People’s Defence Force.

The sea phase would focus on strengthening maritime security cooperation among the participating maritime nations, said a Navy official.

The maiden initiative by the Indian Navy seeks to enhance interoperability and synergise combined operations among the maritime forces of partner nations and highlights the strong and friendly relations between India and the African nations.

INS Sunayna, which sailed out from Karwar on April 5 as Indian Ocean Ship SAGAR, will also be participating in the drill.

In the last few decades, India has been enhancing its engagement with African nations, offering more financial help, scholarships and other support, with a hope to further expand New Delhi’s footprint in a continent rich in natural resources. The African nations’ support is also crucial to India in multilateral fora.