Acknowledging the fact that a secured security environment can never be achieved by efforts of a single country, IBSA grouping (India, Brazil and South Africa) will be have trilateral IBSAMAR Naval excersises later this year. South Africa has agreed to host , IBSAMAR II, and the IBSA Trilateral Map Exercise in 2011 (UN Peace Keeping Scenario), as also military adventure sports event.

The three countries have during various meetings concluded that it requires mutual understanding and cooperation to share the common values on the benefits of cooperation to be enjoyed by the whole maritime community.

IBSA had during the first trilateral exercise in 2008 stressed the need to ?formulate a system of regional cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region to combat threats emanating from non-state actors, particularly those related to terrorism, armed robbery and piracy?.

Talking to FE on the eve of the IBSA summit in Brasilia, the ambassador of Brazil in New Delhi, Marco Brandao said that, ?Plans are afoot to have trilateral naval exercises later this year. Such exercises give the three countries an opportunity to establish concrete relations.?

Infact to discuss the details about these exercises the Naval chief of the Brazil Navy is expected to visit India shortly. ?There are possibilities of having trilateral (IBSA) as well as bilateral (India and Brazil) air force exercises later,? Brandao said.

The chief of the Indian air Force is slated to visit Brazil later this year to discuss the feasibility of such air force exercises, senior officials said.

According to officials in the ministry of defence ?The significance of such an exercise is the exposure the navy will get from not only the Indian Ocean Rim Navies but the Brazilian Navy too.?

Senior naval officers observed that, ?this would be the first step towards the larger integration of the navies under the South-South Dialogue?.

The stated objectives for Exercise IBSAMAR II have been identified as : interoperability to foster mutual trust, respect and co-ordination between participants, conduct combined naval exercises in compliance with mutual objectives, compatibility of the combat capabilities of participating units, enhance readiness for combined operations, develop and improve tactics, doctrine and operating procedures for surface unit employment, offensive operations at sea, seamanship evolutions in including Replenishment at Sea (RAS), encourage friendship and understanding, and improve foreign relations.

At the IBSA summit in 2008, the members had emphasized cooperation in defence production, but it was decided to build the maritime cooperation step-by-step. However, it was decided that the initial engagements could be through seminars and symposiums to understand each other, and familiarize with the strengths of the partners.

India took the lead by inviting Brazil and South Africa to the conference conducted under the aegis of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), providing technology and functional training in Defence Institute for Advance Technology, Pune, and a course on UN Peace Keeping for IBSA countries.

On its part, Brazil commenced tri-service scoping mission, Search and Rescue (SAR) support during IBSA Sailing Regatta-2009, and courses in Brazilian Military Schools, experience sharing in Special Forces.

The multi-faceted naval interaction would help develop a ?common understanding of interoperability? and ?a big learning curve for the supporting navies over such long distances, opined officials.

The Indian Ocean navies have engaged in bilateral exercises with extra regional navies from Britain, Canada, Japan, US, and several other European countries including NATO.

The Indian navy has engaged in multilateral exercises with extra regional navies under Malabar 07-2 and some of the stated aims of the exercises were to conduct anti-piracy and humanitarian drills.

Today, maritime multilateralism has emerged as a tool for nations, who consider using sea power for cooperation in their national interests.

Government officials indicated that at a later stage it will be useful to explore a possible India-France-South Africa (IFSA) multilateral naval cooperation. Adding, there is a scope to explore the possibility of expanding the Atlasur exercises involving the navies of South Africa, Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay by including India.

While the INS Betwa with an armed helicopter and Marine Commando team has replaced INS Beas on anti piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden recently, and India continues to engage in regular trade between Persian Gulf / India and ports on the East coast of Africa and Somalia, the IBSA navies have not attempted to explore the possibility of collectively or bilaterally deploying their naval forces in the Gulf of Aden to fight sea piracy.