Indian Navy and UK Exercise Konkan: The Indian Navy and the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy have started their joint naval exercise called Konkan in the Western Indian Ocean. This time, both nations’ aircraft carriers India’s INS Vikrant and the UK’s HMS Prince of Wales are taking part together for the first time. The exercise started on Sunday and will go on for four days.
The UK’s Carrier Strike Group (CSG), led by HMS Prince of Wales, is currently on a long eight-month deployment called Operation Highmast. During this mission, the group will visit many regions and join with friendly navies, reported India sentinels. Now it has teamed up with the Indian Navy’s own Carrier Strike Group, which is led by INS Vikrant.
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Building Stronger Ties
Exercise Konkan aims to make the Indian and British navies stronger partners. Both sides want to improve how they work together on the high seas and strengthen their combined air and sea power. After the exercises are done, the UK ships will visit Indian ports in Mumbai and Goa. These visits will celebrate the growing friendship between the two countries and show the best of British industry, trade, and culture. The visit will also reflect the close bond between the people of the UK and India, something both countries often call a “living bridge.”
British High Commissioner to India, Lindy Cameron, said, “The UK and India believe in an Indo-Pacific that is free and open. We share an ambition for a modern defence and security partnership, a fundamental pillar of UK-India Vision 2035, agreed by our Prime Ministers this year. The engagements between the Carrier Strike Groups of our two navies demonstrate our commitment to maintaining the rules-based international order in the region and lay the groundwork for future cooperation.”
Commodore Chris Saunders, Defence Adviser at the British High Commission, said “Exercise Konkan provides an excellent opportunity for the Royal Navy to train in the delivery of complex multi-domain operations alongside India as partners in the Indo-Pacific region. The UK and India are two carrier operating countries, and the Royal Navy and Indian Navy are in a fairly exclusive club as blue-water, multi-carrier navies. This exercise provides another opportunity, a first with both carriers, for two maritime powers to enhance combined capability operating and share best practice. The UK is also proud to co-lead the Maritime Security Pillar of India’s Indo-Pacific Oceans Initiative.”
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Operation Highmast
Commodore James Blackmore, Commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group, said, “It’s fantastic to work again with the Indian Navy during Exercise Konkan to develop our combined operational capabilities. We’ve been collaborating to expand our defence capability, in support of the rules-based international system in the Indo-Pacific.”
After the exercise and port visits, the UK group will join the Indian Air Force for an aerial defence exercise. This will help both forces improve their air combat skills and share knowledge about different fighting methods.
Operation Highmast is a long multinational mission where the UK’s Carrier Strike Group travels around the world to train with allies. The CSG includes HMS Prince of Wales, the largest ship ever built in the UK, weighing 65,000 tonnes. It also has the destroyer HMS Dauntless, the frigate HMS Richmond, and other Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ships. Many partner nations also take part in this mission by sending their ships or crews. The group operates modern aircraft like the F-35B Lightning jets and Merlin and Wildcat helicopters.
India and the UK already have a long record of military cooperation. Back in 2021, both countries held their biggest joint exercise called Konkan Shakti, where all three military branches took part.
