Australian PM Anthony Albanese becomes first foreign PM to visit INS Vikrant

The exercise witnessed the participation of around 70 ships, six submarines and more than 75 aircraft, and it covered over 21 million square nautical miles, according to the Navy.

Mumbai:Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday embarked on India's indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, the Navy said. Albanese was received onboard Vikrant by Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar with a guard of honour, it said in a release. The Australian PM while addressing the media expressed his gratitude towards PM Narendra Modi for inviting him to visit the indigenous aircraft carrier.

Albanese visited the indigenous aircraft carrier comes on the day the Indian Navy's biggest-ever biennial exercise 'Tropex' culminated after four months. The exercise witnessed the participation of around 70 ships, six submarines and more than 75 aircraft and it covered over 21 million square nautical miles, Navy officials said on Thursday.

A series of complex drills and manoeuvres featuring almost all assets of the Navy was a major highlight of the 'Theatre Level Operational Readiness Exercise' (Tropex) that culminated this week in the Arabian Sea, they said. The exercise, which began in November last, also witnessed significant participation from the Indian Army, the Indian Air Force and the Coast Guard. The overall exercise constructs included the coastal defence exercise 'Sea Vigil' and the Amphibious exercise 'AMPHEX'.

''Set in the Indian Ocean, including the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, the theatre of operations for the exercise extended approximately 4,300 nautical miles (nm) from North to South up to 35 degrees South Latitude and 5000 nm from the Persian Gulf in the West to North Australia coast in the East, spanning an area of over 21 million square nautical miles,'' Navy spokesperson Commander Vivek Madhwal said.

He said Tropex witnessed the participation of approximately 70 Indian Navy ships, six submarines and more than 75 aircraft. ''The culmination of the exercise brings to an end an intense operational phase for the Indian Navy that commenced in November 2022,'' he said. INS Vikrant is an aircraft carrier in service with Indian Navy. The carrier is the first to be built in India and was constructed by Cochin Shipyard Limited in Kerala.