A Royal Australian Navy task group composed of a helicopter carrier, frigates, and a submarine arrived in India ahead of the start of exercise Ausindex.
This is the second time India is hosting the exercise, which was first held in September 2015 at Visakhaptnam.
Landing helicopter dock HMAS Canberra, frigates HMAS Newcastle and HMAS Paramatta, submarine HMAS Collins, and replenishment oiler HMAS Success are the Australian vessels taking part in Ausindex.
Now in its third iteration, Ausindex will focus on anti-submarine warfare and will be the biggest in terms of the number of vessels taking part.
The Indian Navy will be represented by destroyer INS Ranvijay, frigate INS Sahyadri, corvettes INS Kora and INS Kiltan, and submarine INS Sindhukirti. Indian Dornier maritime patrol aircraft, Hawk advanced jet trainers and Poseidon P8Is are also taking part.
“This year’s iteration of Ausindex will see the largest deployment of Australian Defence Force elements in India,” Captain Grogan, the commanding officer of HMAS Success, said.
“India is a significant security partner for Australia in the Indian Ocean and broader Indo-Pacific region.”
The bilateral defense relationship with India has continued to strengthen since its original inception in 2014, more than tripling the number of defense exercises, meetings and activities between the two countries.
The Australian task group is visiting India as part of Indo-Pacific Endeavour 2019, a deployment during which it will visit a number of ports in the Indian Ocean and South East Asia.