This is the first time Nigeria and India have deployed together to support anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Guinea

The Indian Navy's INS Tarkash, which is currently on a mission deployment in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) for anti-piracy operations, participated in a joint maritime exercise with Nigerian Navy Patrol Ships earlier this week.

Informing about this, the Spokesperson of the Indian Navy tweeted, "Reinforcing #IndianNavy’s commitment to #MaritimeSecurity INS Tarkash is currently mission-deployed in #GulfofGuinea (GoG) for anti-piracy ops. #INSTarkash participated in a Joint Maritime Exercise with #NigerianNavy Patrol Ships NNS Kano, Osun, Sokoto & Nguru. @DefenceInfoNG"

According to an official press release from India’s Ministry of Defence, the exercise on Monday and Tuesday offered a chance to improve interoperability between the Indian and Nigerian Navies. Additionally, it improved capabilities for counter-piracy and marine interdiction operations.

"The exercise provided an opportunity for reinforcing inter-operability between the Indian and Nigerian navies in various facets of maritime operations like Anti-Piracy operations, Assistance to vessel in distress, SAR drills as also anti-air and anti-surface operations. It also helped enhance skills for maritime interdiction and counter piracy operations," the ministry said in the press release issued on Thursday.

The statement further added that the exercise marks the first time Nigeria and India have deployed together operationally to support anti-piracy efforts in the Gulf of Guinea.