Flying ops, tactical manoeuvres, seamanship evolutions & communication drills aimed at enhancing #interoperability, mutual trust & understanding b/n the navies.
As part of deployment to the #MediterraneanSea, #INSChennai visited Souda Bay, Greece from 27-29 Jul. The Commanding Officer called on Base Commander, HellenicNavy’s Souda Naval Base & laid a wreath at Souda Bay War Cemetery.
A visit to the Maritime Museum of Crete was conducted for the ship’s crew. A team of Hellenic Naval Personnel visited INS Chennai and were provided an overview of the ship.
What does all this mean:
India has the support of Greece. With Greece’s help, India has targeted both Pakistan and Turkey. Greece recently “vacated” Pakistan at the behest of India. Pakistan’s navy faces two huge problems as it is currently struggling with a lack of batteries for its submarines already in service, as well as a lack of engines.
Among the five submarines in Pakistan’s possession, batteries are crucial for powering the conventional ones when underwater. However, Pakistan’s request to Greece for batteries was rejected, likely in response to India’s request to Greece to stop exporting defense materials to Pakistan last year.
India sent Sukhoi fighter jets to Greece. The USA, France, Italy, Jordan and Saudi Arabia participated in the exercise. Defense cooperation between India and Greece is going from strength to strength as both countries aim to improve their joint operational capability. As part of the annual Greek exercise Iniochos 23, the Indian Air Force sent Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets to participate in the training exercise.”
What bothers India is Turkey’s continued support to Pakistan over Kashmir. Turkey has “internationalized” the Kashmir issue in various international forums. In addition, Turkey also supplies weapons to Pakistan. Recently, Turkey has reportedly supplied “state-of-the-art” Bayraktar Akinci fighter drones to Pakistan.
Turkey and its President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have frequently raised the Kashmir issue at the UN and other international forums. As recently as February 27 this year, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Mehmet Kemal Bozai, while addressing the UN, had urged the world to resolve the Kashmir issues under the UN mandate.
In 2019, Erodgan accused India of ignoring human rights violations in Kashmir while addressing the UN assembly. Again, in 2020, after India revoked Article 370 from Kashmir, the Turkish President raised the Kashmir issue while addressing the Pakistani parliament.
With many diplomatic visits and meetings, India’s participation in the Greek multilateral air exercises will be a new paradigm shift in Indian-Greek military relations.
Both sides now aim for a permanent Indian presence in the Eastern Mediterranean as a counterbalance to Pakistan’s presence and close Turkish-Pakistani cooperation.
Let’s not forget that Turkey is now selling large quantities of military equipment to Pakistan with the crowning achievements of the ADA class frigates and T-129 attack helicopters.