French multinational Naval exercise La Perouse (named after the eighteenth-century French Naval explorer) is scheduled from 05th to 07th April 2021 in the Bay of Bengal. The exercise will also witness participation from India’s fellow Quad members—Australia, Japan, and the United States.
The Royal Australian Navy ships HMAS Anzac and HMAS Sirius will also join vessels from France, India, Japan and the United States for the French-led maritime Exercise La Perouse.
The annual exercise will be conducted in the Bay of Bengal from 5-7 April 2021.
Minister for Defence the Hon Peter Dutton MP welcomed the exercise, saying Australia’s participation highlights the importance of building and maintaining strong navy-to-navy relationships in the region.
“This exercise will see an Australian frigate and auxiliary oiler conduct a range of activities, including officer-of-the-watch manoeuvres, replenishments at sea and flying operations,” Mr Dutton said.
“Exercise La Perouse will also demonstrate the complementary capability of our partner nations and highlight our shared commitment to a stable and secure Indo-Pacific.”
The exercise comes at a time when there is seen considerable Chinese aggression in the Indian Ocean region with major countries taking steps to boost the security framework in the region and also keep a check on the Chinese. With QUAD taking an aggressive approach to check China, many other countries like France and U.K have also come out and have pledged to strengthen the security framework in the Indian Ocean region, the naval exercise with major powers of the region is a major step in balancing the aggressive Chinese expansion.
