As part of Exercise Garuda 25, an Air Force contingent landed at Mont-de-Marsan Air Base in France to participate in a bilateral air exercise with the French Air and Space Forces from November 16 to 27.
The aim of the exercise is to further strengthen the defense cooperation of the two air forces.
In a post on X, the Indian Air Force said: “Exercise Garuda 25: A contingent of the Indian Air Force landed at the Mont-de-Marsan Air Base in France to participate in a bilateral air exercise with the French Air and Space Forces from November 16 to 27, 25 Nov 25. The exercise by both air forces will further enhance interoperability, promote exchange of best practices and strengthen defense cooperation between the two air forces.
India and France have traditionally enjoyed close and friendly relations and share a deep and enduring Strategic Partnership (SP) covering all aspects of bilateral cooperation, which includes a strategic component under the MEA.
Joint defense exercises between India and France have grown in scale and complexity over the years. The 20th Army-Army Staff Talks were held in New Delhi from 7 to 8 November 2024.
The 17th round of Navy-Navy talks were held in New Delhi on 6-7 February 2024. The bilateral military exercise SHAKTI 2024 was held from 13 to 26 May 2024 in Umroi, Meghalaya, India. It was the first time that Air Force and Navy observers participated in the exercise, the MEA said in a statement.
The French Air and Space Forces (FASF) and the IAF participated in the bilateral Ex GARUDA until last year 2023. This year, the IAF expanded the scope by inviting several countries in the form of a new exercise TARANG SHAKTI instead of Ex GARUDA.
The FASF participated in this multilateral phase Ex Tarang Shakti -I which took place at Air Force Station Sulur and Air Force Station Thanjavur from 6 to 14 August 2024. The maritime phase of Naval Exercise VARUNA 2024 took place from 2 to 5 September 2024 off the coast of Toulon, France. The IN P8I (Maritime Patrol and Recce Aircraft) was deployed to Istres (France) from 1-4 September 2024 to participate in the VARUNA 2024 exercise.
The French Atlantique 2 aircraft participated in the MILAN 2024 multilateral exercise off the coast of Vishakapatnam.
