India, EU hold first joint naval exercise in Gulf of Guinea

India and the European Union (EU) on October 26 conducted their first joint naval exercise in the Gulf of Guinea off the west coast of Africa in an effort to strengthen maritime security cooperation in support of the region.

The exercise comes three weeks after officials from India and the EU met in Brussels to adopt a declaration to strengthen naval engagement to enforce laws and curb illegal maritime activities.

Participating in the exercise, the Indian Navy deployed the patrol ship INS Sumedha, while the EU sent three naval ships including the Italian ITS Foscari, the French FS Ventôse and the Spanish Tornado.

The four ships conducted a series of tactical training exercises in international waters off Ghana, including boarding exercises, helicopter flight exercises on board Ventôse and INS Sumedha, as well as personnel exchanges between the ships.

According to a statement by the Indian Navy, the exercise underscores New Delhi and the EU’s shared commitment to supporting the Yaoundé Architecture – a regional maritime security architecture for West Africa – in ensuring maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, thereby signaling a shared resolve to uphold the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

This is the second operational exercise of the Indian Navy with a group of countries after the first maritime exercise of the Indian Navy with the member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) last May at Changi Naval Base (Singapore).

The Indian Navy conducts regular bilateral naval exercises with the French Navy and has also conducted joint exercises with the Italian Navy.

The exercise was followed by a knowledge sharing session in Ghana’s capital Accra, which built on shared maritime experience to improve operational know-how. The session also helped deepen ties between Ghanaian officials and representatives of the Indian and EU delegations to the West African nation.

Earlier this month, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs issued a statement saying that at the third India-EU Maritime Security Dialogue in Brussels, officials from both sides explored ways to enhance joint efforts in areas such as combating illicit activities at sea, maritime law enforcement and capacity building.