Indian Navy’s Maiden Exercise with Algerian Navy

• Indian and Algerian navies participated in a maiden naval exercise off the Algerian coast in a bid to increase maritime cooperation.
• The naval exercise with Algeria is crucial for India as it is strategically located in the africa bordering the Mediterranean Sea and is the largest country of Africa.
• INS Tabar is a Talwar-class Stealth Frigate built for the Indian Navy in Russia.

2050 Africa’s Integrated Maritime Strategy (2050 AIM Strategy)

• It consists of the overarching, concerted and coherent long-term multilayered plans of actions that will achieve the objectives of the AU (African Union) to enhance maritime viability for a prosperous Africa.

India and Africa in maritime domain

• India has been at the forefront in encouraging African participation in various multilateral framework in the Indian Ocean region.
• The Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), an Indian- led initiative headquartered in Mauritius includes eight African members including the strategic island states like Comoros and Madagascar.
• The Indian Ocean Naval Symposium is a multinational naval mechanism established by the Indian Navy in 2008.
• It aims to develop a closer understanding amongst the navies of the region and foster greater interoperability and a shared awareness of the maritime domain while addressing security issues at an operational level.
• It includes six African member states – Kenya, Mauritius, Seychelles, Mozambique, Tanzania and South Africa.