The Indian and French navies, as of today, have trust and interoperability on another level, said commanding officer of the INS Chennai, Captain Raghu Nair. The Indian Navy’s indigenously designed and built guided missile destroyer is at Brest in France to take part in the Bastille Day celebrations.
This coincides with the participation of the Indian tri-services contingent in the Bastille Day Parade on July 14, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the guest of honour. “The level of trust and interoperability that exist today between the two navies is really at a different level, and that helps us enhance our engagement as well,” Captain Nair told CNN-News18 in an exclusive interview.
“It’s a great opportunity and that is why the navy has decided to send one of its frontline ships all the way to France. Personally, for my ship as well as me, it is one of the greatest privileges accorded to us. We are truly humbled by this honour,” he said.
Captain Nair said the two navies had been engaged in military exercises for many years. “…In fact, we just completed the last Varuna series of exercises earlier this year; it is a joint exercise between France and India,” he added.
Varuna, the bilateral exercise between the two navies, has matured into a complex engagement involving all domains of naval power. It reflects the growth of the Indo-French strategic bilateral relationship. The exercise was initiated in 1993 and christened ‘Varuna’ in 2001. Its 21st edition was conducted on January 23 in the Arabian Sea.
The INS Chennai is docked at the port city of Brest in France till July 16. The prime minister arrived in Paris on Thursday on a two-day visit. In his departure statement, he said his visit to France was particularly special as he will join President Emmanuel Macron for the French National Day, or Bastille Day celebrations in Paris as the guest of honour.
He expressed confidence that his visit to France will provide a new impetus to the bilateral strategic partnership and said he looked forward to holding wide-ranging discussions with Macron on taking forward the time-tested relationship over the next 25 years.
(With PTI inputs)
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