India to hold naval drills with African countries under PM Modi's MAHASAGAR vision

The Indian Navy will carry out a mega wargame with several African nations next month to expand its overall defence cooperation with the continent, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new vision for engagement with the Global South.

PM Modi announced the vision MAHASAGAR or “Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions” for India’s engagement with the Global South during his recent visit to Mauritius.

Deputy Chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Tarun Sobti said the Indian Navy and the Tanzania Peoples Defence Force will co-host the exercise, titled “AIKEYME” or Africa-India Key Maritime Engagement, off Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania in mid-April and it is set to be inaugurated by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

India and Africa have been cooperating in tackling maritime security threats, such as piracy, illegal activities including trafficking, unregulated and unreported fishing, through sharing of information and surveillance.

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However, the “AIKEYME” exercise is likely to significantly expand the ongoing cooperation.

“A large-scale multilateral maritime engagement exercise with African countries, titled ‘Africa India Key Maritime Engagement’ or ‘AIKEYME’, which means unity in Sanskrit, is an initiative to enhance interoperability with African navies,” Vice Admiral Sobti told reporters.

The deputy chief of naval staff said the exercise is planned over six days and will see the participation of Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles and South Africa, in addition to the co-hosts.

The harbour phase of the exercise would include table-top and command-post exercises on piracy and information sharing, along with training on seamanship, he said.

The sea phase comprises seamanship evolutions, search and rescue, visit board search and seizure, small-arms firing and helicopter operations, he added.

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The Indian Navy also announced the launch of another maiden initiative called Indian Ocean Ship (IOS) Sagar with an aim to boost cooperation with the friendly countries in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

Under the initiative, one Indian naval ship is being deployed to the southwest of the IOR with a combined crew from India and nine other nations - Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and South Africa.

The ship, INS Sunayna, is planned to be deployed for more than a month in April and would be undertaking port calls at Dar-es-Salaam, Nacala, Port Louis, Port Victoria and Male.

It will also carry out joint surveillance of exclusive economic zones of Tanzania, Mozambique, Mauritius and Seychelles.

The personnel from the other nations to be part of the crew of INS Sunayna would undergo a training capsule of two weeks at various naval professional schools in Kochi, including training at sea.