Mumbai: Vice Admiral Emmanuel Slaars, Joint Commander of the French Forces Deployed in the Indian Ocean (ALINDIEN), accompanied by a two-member delegation, visited Headquarters, Western Naval Command (HQWNC) at Mumbai on April 18, 2023.
ALINDIEN interacted with Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command. During the interaction, growing cooperation between the two navies on the maritime front and enhanced interoperability to bolster maritime security in the region was appreciated by both the sides. The interaction also highlighted the gains achieved by cooperation between the Indian and the French Navies in strengthening the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) construct.
Both sides agreed that there is an emergent need to enhance navy-to-navy cooperation keeping in line with the strengthening relations between the two maritime nations.
Bilateral cooperation between India and France, especially in the sphere of maritime security, has been growing. Robustness of the naval partnership and cooperation is reflected in steady improvement in interoperability through conduct of regular exercises, long range deployments by ships and mutually beneficial interaction among high-level envoys.
