The INS Trishul Toulon visit has begun. The Indian Navy frigate reached the French port on Tuesday for the 24th edition of Exercise Varuna with the French Navy.

Toulon, on France's Mediterranean coast, is the principal base of the French Navy.

INS Trishul Toulon programme covers harbour and sea

According to the Ministry of Defence, Exercise Varuna will see professional engagements in harbour and at sea. Cross-deck visits, operational interactions and sporting engagements are part of the programme.

What the two navies expect from it

The ministry said the engagements will let both navies share experiences and best practices, improve interoperability and build a better understanding of each other. Interoperability, in plain terms, is the ability of two navies to operate together at sea without friction.

The ship and the exercise

INS Trishul is a Talwar class stealth frigate commissioned in 2003 and part of the Western Fleet of the Indian Navy.

Varuna is the Indian Navy's long running bilateral exercise with the French Navy. The series dates to 2001, and the 24th edition is now under way, with the INS Trishul Toulon visit marking the Indian Navy's part in it.

India France maritime partnership in the ministry's words

The ministry described the visit as a mark of the strong and lasting maritime partnership between India and France, and of the widening scope of cooperation between the two navies.

Other engagements on the Indian Navy's September calendar

Earlier this month, the French frigate Languedoc completed a port call at Mormugao in Goa, and statements at the time said Indian and French naval assets would meet near Toulon for Varuna 2026, the same exercise INS Trishul has now reached.

In Southeast Asia, INS Mysore took part in Exercise Samudra Laksamana at Lumut in Malaysia. Days later, INS Sahyadri and INS Kulish arrived at Subic Bay in the Philippines for ADMM-Plus activity.