The Indian Navy will be holding the 16th bilateral naval exercise called VARUNA with the French Navy starting Tuesday. The sea phase of the exercise will be held for five days till 24 March.

Though the Indian Navy and the French Navy have been holding the exercises since May 1993, the name VARUNA was assigned only in 2001.

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Both nations held the last exercise off the French coast in April 2017. The 16th edition will be held in India.

VARUNA, designed to improve interoperability and learn from each other’s best practices, will be conducted in three phases.

The phase will be held in the Arabian Sea. The other two phases will be held in the Bay of Bengal and south-western Indian Ocean.

The French Navy will have a submarine and frigate Jean de Vienne. Indian Navy is sending destroyer INS Mumbai, frigate INS Trikand and submarine INS Kalvari.

Indian Navy aircrafts such as P8-I, Dornier maritime patrol aircraft and MiG 29K fighters will also be part of the exercise.

The exercise comes after the first visit of the French President Emmanuel Macron to India in March during which India and France signed a series of agreements with special focus on maritime security.

In a joint statement issued by Prime Minister Modi and French President Macron, the special impetus on taking the Navy-to-Navy cooperative engagement forward was reiterated.