Cape Town: India, Brazil and South Africa will held joint naval exercises in the seas off the southern coast of South Africa. The joint military exercise would be the first time in the history of the trilateral IBSA (India-Brazil-South Africa).
Terming the exercise at Simonstown Naval Base as "historical" and "very special", Brazilian Naval Captain Onias de Castro Limathe said the three countries will engage in multi-faceted naval operations.
"The exercise is an attempt to develop a common understanding of inter-operability and to foster mutual trust and co-ordination among one another," Captain Charl Coetzee of the South African Navy said.
The exercise will include simulated offensive operations against surface and sub-surface threats, including anti-submarine warfare. Also the navy of all the three countries will learn to provide logistical support and other operations over such long distances.
Some members of the armed forces of the 14-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) regional bloc will also be joining the three navies in the exercises, said Captain Coetzee.
The overall aim, he said, is to use the navies of the three countries to strengthen multilateral cohesion between South Africa, India and Brazil, under ministerial authority of the trilateral axis.
