New Delhi, March 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) French naval ships Tonnerre, an amphibious assault ship, and Surcouf, a Frigate Class ship, stopped at Kochi on Tuesday on its way to the South China Sea to underscore freedom of navigation in international waterways.
The ships are going to South China Sea as part of Mission Jeanne D'arc 2021 and will reach Japan after transiting the South China Sea twice.
Jeanne D'arc 2021 is an annual long duration and joint deployment, which aims to provide officer cadets with "at sea" operational training before joining their units as officers.
The mission has three main objectives -- train the future generations of French Navy officers, deploy operational capabilities in areas of strategic interest and interoperability and regional cooperation.
Earlier in February this year, a French nuclear-propelled attack submarine and warship patrolled the South China Sea. French Defence Minister Florence Parly had said then, "This extraordinary patrol has just completed a passage in the South China Sea. A striking proof of the capacity of our French Navy to deploy far away and for a long time together with our Australian, American and Japanese strategic partners."
China lays claim to nearly all of the South China Sea while other countries also claim parts of the region.
At Kochi, the French naval ships arrived on Tuesday and were received by senior naval authorities in the background of fanfare by the naval band, the Indian Navy said.
The French delegation included Emmanuel Lenain, French Ambassador to India in 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.
The French delegation and the commanding officers of the French naval ships called on flag officer commanding-in-chief, Southern Naval Command, AK Chawla. The ships will be departing Kochi on April 1.
"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," the Indian Navy said in a statement.
Source: IANS
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