IAF team to participate in aerial war games in France

An Indian Air Force (IAF) contingent, including Sukhoi fighter jets, will participate in a joint air exercise 'Garuda' with the French Air Force.

The Garuda contingent will depart on June 25 and the exercise will take place between July 1 and July 14 in France, the IAF said in a tweet.

In a video posted on Twitter by IAF, Bareilly Air Force Base Commander Air Commodore M Ranade said, "The Indo-French joint exercise Garuda is going to be conducted in France very shortly. This is the sixth edition of the exercise which is intended for both the air forces to exercise together and learn best practices each one has to offer."

"A contingent of 4x Su-30 MKI, 2x C-17 and 1x 1L-78 tanker of the Indian Air Force will fly to France to participate in this exercise," he said.

Ranade said that IAF team is well prepared and they will be putting their best forward to project the prowess of the Indian Air Force.

"I will wish the entire contingent good flying, safe flying and mission accomplishment with safety in mind," he said.

Earlier, India and France had recently held naval drills in the Arabian Sea under the Varuna series wargames in which Indian naval fighters along with the Rafale-M of the French Air Force took part.

India and France are strategic partners and have been enhancing their strategic cooperation over the last many years.

The Narendra Modi government had signed a deal for 36 Rafale fighters in the year 2016. The first squadron would be based in Ambala while the second one would go to Hashimara on the China border.