India on Saturday clarified that it did not participate in a so-called “BRICS Naval Exercise”, stating that the exercise was not an institutionalised BRICS activity, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement.
Responding to media queries, MEA’s Official Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the exercise in question was entirely a South African initiative in which only some BRICS members took part. He underlined that it was neither a regular nor a formal BRICS exercise and that not all member countries participated.
He further said that India has not taken part in previous such activities. Jaiswal added that the regular exercise India participates in, in this context, is the IBSAMAR maritime exercise involving the navies of India, Brazil and South Africa.
The last edition of the IBSAMAR exercise was held in October 2024.
