51-nation naval drill to formulate SOPs

WITH the oceans emerging as strategic grounds for geopolitical shift, the Indian Navy is set to welcome 50 countries and work on finding ways to handle emerging scenarios and develop agreements on operational procedures to assist in threedimensional scenarios.

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The scenarios will be complex three dimensional: air, surface and underwater. Indian Navy’s deputy chief Vice-Admiral Tarun Sobti said Milan 2024 is a major endeavour to get together friendly foreign countries for significant maritime activity. He said 51 countries will participate in the event.

“While delegation-level participation is confirmed from more than 30 countries, 15 others will send their warships. The French Navy will come with an aircraft,” Sobti said.

From the Indian side, nearly 20 ships, including aircraft carriers Vikrant and Vikramaditya, and almost 50 aircraft will participate in the exercise.