The Indian Navy has concluded its largest exercise conducted across the expanse of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).  The four-month exercise ‘TROPEX’, which began in November 2022, culminated this week in the Arabian Sea.

The overall exercise construct included the Coastal Defence exercise Sea Vigil and the Amphibious Exercise AMPHEX. Together, these exercises also witnessed significant participation from the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and the Coast Guard.

Set in the Indian Ocean including the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, the theatre of operations for the exercise extended about 4300 nm from North to South up to 35 deg South Latitude and 5000 nm from the Persian Gulf in the West to North Australia coast in the East, spanning an area of over 21 million square nautical miles. The exercise witnessed the participation of about 70 Indian Navy ships, six submarines and over 75 aircraft.

”The culmination of TROPEX 23 brings to an end an intense operational phase for the Indian Navy that commenced in November 2022,” the Ministry of Defence said.

As part of the final joint phase, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh spent a day at sea onboard the newly commissioned indigenous aircraft carrier Vikrant on 6 March. He reviewed the Indian Navy’s operational preparedness and material readiness wherein the Navy demonstrated operational manoeuvres and various facets of combat operations, including deck operations of indigenous LCA and live weapon firings.

While addressing the Navy personnel, Rajnath lauded the Operational preparedness of the Indian Navy and emphasised that the country looked up to the force to ensure that the economic lifelines and military capabilities of ”our adversaries” were disrupted to the extent where their warfighting endeavours could no longer be sustained.

He also stated that he was fully reassured that the Indian Navy was wholly capable of safeguarding India’s national interests in the maritime domain and would thwart the diabolical designs of any potential adversaries who sought to threaten India’s peaceful existence.

Rajnath complimented the Indian Navy for being at the forefront of the ‘Make in India’ Initiative and leveraging the path of ”Aatmanirbharta” to be ‘Combat Ready, Credible, Cohesive and Future Proof’.