India, Maldives & Sri Lanka conduct trilateral exercise 'Dosti' in IOR

Amid the ongoing standoff between India and Maldives for the last few months, India has been conducting military exercises with the island country. However, this exercise involves all three countries – India, Maldives and Sri Lanka. This biennial exercise programme has been named 'Dosti'.

• This is the 16th edition of this exercise. Therefore, it has been named Dosti-16.

Trilateral Friendship Exercise 2024:

• This exercise is very important keeping in mind maritime security. The coast guard forces of the three countries have started a four-day trilateral exercise to deal with the emerging challenges in the Indian Ocean region.

Organization of four-day exercise 'Dosti-16':

• Exercise Dosti-16 was organized from 22 to 25 February 2024. Indian Coast Guard ships ICGS Samarth, ICGS Abhinav and ICG Dornier arrived in Maldives on 22 February to participate in the exercise. The Sri Lanka Navy ship Samudura also reached Maldives on 22 February.
• At the same time, Bangladesh is participating in this exercise as an observer.

Focus will be on strengthening trilateral relations:

• It is noteworthy that the Coast Guard helicopter ICGS Dornier is also part of the trilateral exercise 'Dosti'. The objectives of this exercise can be seen in the following points:
  • Increasing mutual cooperation
  • Strengthening friendship
  • Improving interoperability
  • To develop interoperability between Coast Guard personnel of India, Maldives and Sri Lanka.
• The Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) extended a warm welcome to ADG S Paramesh, Additional Director General of the Indian Coast Guard.

Chinese spy ship Jiang Yang Hong-03 visits Male:

• The exercise is occurring in Male, the capital of Maldives, coinciding with the arrival of a Chinese ship in the same location. Chinese research vessel Jiang Yang Hong-03 has anchored near Male port.
• India has conveyed its concerns regarding Maldives' actions following the authorization of this ship's activities.
• The Chinese marine research vessel, Jiang Yang Hong 03, was near the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Maldives for the last one month. After this, reached Male on 22nd February.
• The research vessel commenced its journey on January 14, just 24 hours after the conclusion of Maldivian President Mohammed Muizzu's state visit to China.
• Maldives has said that the Chinese ship Jiang Yang Hong-3 has come to its waters only for rotation and replenishment.

About spy ship Jiang Yang Hong-03:

• This Chinese ship is about 100 meters long. The ship was inducted into the fleet of China's State Oceanic Administration (SOA) in 2016.
• Since 2019, China has been using it to conduct remote water and deep sea surveys.
• India views the approval of this Chinese vessel's entry as a matter of security concern.
• This Chinese ship has been accused of spying in the economic zones of India, Sri Lanka and Maldives in the name of survey.