New Delhi: The Indian Navy’s guided-missile frigate INS Trishul arrived at Toulon, France, on Wednesday, for the 24th edition of Exercise Varuna, the bilateral maritime exercise with the French Navy. The deployment will bring personnel from the two services together for harbour engagements and activities at sea intended to improve their ability to operate alongside one another.
According to the Navy’s release, the programme includes cross-deck visits, operational discussions and sporting activities, providing opportunities for crews to exchange experience and compare working practices. The stated emphasis is on improving interoperability – the ability of different naval forces to coordinate their procedures and operations – while building familiarity among personnel.
The announcement did not identify the French ships taking part or give a detailed schedule for the sea phase. It also did not specify the combat drills planned for this edition, which has been announced as part of the continuing maritime cooperation between the two countries.
Trishul’s arrival follows a visit to Alexandria, Egypt, from September 14 to September 17, during its overseas deployment. The frigate also conducted a passage exercise with the Egyptian naval ship Bernees, involving coordinated manoeuvres, communications drills and approaches used to prepare for replenishment at sea, according to the Indian defence ministry.
Trishul is the second ship of the Talwar class and was commissioned on June 25, 2003. The approximately 125-metre frigate is equipped with weapons and sensors for multiple naval roles and can embark a multi-role helicopter, giving it capabilities beyond those of its shipboard systems alone.
The exercise series has a history extending beyond its present name: India and France began bilateral naval exercises in 1993 and adopted the name Varuna in 2001. Successive editions have provided a recurring framework for their warships, aircraft and submarines to practise operating together.
The previous edition, held from March 19 to March 22, 2025, brought together the aircraft carriers INS Vikrant and Charles de Gaulle, alongside fighter aircraft, surface escorts and an Indian Scorpene-class submarine. Its programme included air defence training, simulated combat between Indian MiG-29K and French Rafale-M fighters, anti-submarine operations and replenishment at sea.
The Mediterranean also hosted Varuna in September 2024, when INS Tabar and an Indian P-8I maritime patrol aircraft participated alongside French naval assets, including the frigate Provence and submarine Suffren. That edition involved anti-submarine warfare, air defence drills, tactical manoeuvres and live weapon firing, illustrating the range of activities the two navies have undertaken in earlier exercises.
Taken together, these deployments show that the operational relationship extends beyond encounters in the Indian Ocean to training in waters farther from India’s shores. For the Navy, the practical value of such engagements lies in giving crews repeated experience of coordinating with a foreign force, from routine communications to the more demanding tasks included in successive editions of Varuna.