French Naval Ships Tonnerre (Amphibious Assault Ship) and Surcouf (Frigate Class Ship) are on a two-day good will visit to Kochi. Tonnerre and Surcouf are carrying out a five-month long deployment, which started in February and takes place throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
The ships arrived at Cochin Port Trust on 30 March and were received by Senior Naval Authorities in the background of fanfare by the naval band.
The port call comes ahead of joint exercises of French ships with Quad vessels. The France-led “La Pérouse” exercise will take place in April in the Bay of Bengal. This time, all the the four Quad members – India, US, Australia and Japan – will take part in it.
The French delegation comprising Emmanuel Lenain, French Ambassador in India at New Delhi, Rear Admiral Jacques Fayard, French Joint Forces Commander in the Indian Ocean (ALINDIEN) and Lise Talbot Barre, Consul General of France in Puducherry were also present, as part of the visit.
The French delegation and the Commanding Officers of the French Naval ships called on Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command, Vice Admiral AK Chawla on 30 March. The ships will be departing Kochi on 1 April.
“Interactions between India and France have evolved into a strong partnership especially in the domain of maritime security. The regular conduct of bilateral exercises, goodwill visits by ships and high level delegation visits involving both the navies are indicative of growth in mutual cooperation and jointmanship”, a statement from the defence ministry said.
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