On Friday, April 2, French warships arrived in Kochi ahead of La Pérouse joint naval exercise between navies of Quad members or four members of the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue. It will be a training session between India, France, Japan, US and Australia.

Also, this is first time when the French Navy is conducting a joint drill with all four members of the Quad – India, Australia, Japan and the US – in regional waters.

Tonnerre, an amphibious assault helicopter carrier, and the Surcouf, a La Fayette-class frigate, are also part of naval exercise. They will sail to the Bay of Bengal for the joint exercise that will last from April 5 to 7.

Captain Arnaud Tranchant of Tonnerre ship spoke to ANI, “There will be eight ships, I will be the commanding officer of the task group as this training is a French initiative. We will make many such trainings to enhance interoperability between different navies.”

 

The Women cadet officer Charlotte also spoke to ANI, “This training is very comprehensive and intense. We alternate periods of theoretical learning and periods of practice. A number of women are inducted into the French Navy. We are about 15 per cent of the total French Navy strength.”

Another Cadet officer Alexis spoke to ANI, “This mission is the completion of our training to conduct operations, navigation, which will make us efficient as officers at sea”.

On the other side, the Ambassador of France to India, Emmanuel Lenain thanked Indian Navy for the warm welcome of French warships Tonnerre and Surcouf in Kochi in a tweet on March 31.

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TOPICS: France Indian navy Japan