INS Trikand — Indian Naval stealth warship arrived at Alexandria, Egypt, for its operational deployment to the Mediterranean Sea, where it will partake in Exercise Bright Star 2025. The exercise is being hosted from September 1 to 10 by Egypt.
The Ministry further mentioned that these exercises aim to exchange "best practices" that would help nations against traditional and non-traditional maritime. The senior military officials will also hold bilateral discussions to promote people-to-people ties between the two nations during the exercise.
"These interactions aim to strengthen commonalities in procedures and to exchange Best Practices that would aid combined operations against traditional and non-traditional maritime threats," a release said.
Bright Star 2025 is a multilateral US Central Command exercise covering air, land, and sea domains. It aims to strengthen regional security and cooperation, while enhancing interoperability in irregular warfare against hybrid threat scenarios. Apart from India, Egypt, and the USA, forces from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Greece, Cyprus, and Italy are also expected to join.
The Indian Navy has termed the exercise a bridge of friendship between India and Egypt. In an X post, Navy spokesperson wrote, “#IndianNavy's stealth frigate #INSTrikand arrived at Alexandria, Egypt, on #01Sep 25 during her ongoing deployment to the Mediterranean Sea. The ship will participate in the @CENTCOM led multinational Exercise #BrightStar2025 co-hosted by Egypt, which will also see participation by contingents from the #IndianArmy and #IndianAirForce. India-Egypt #BridgesofFriendship".
"Engagements during the port call will also include bilateral & multilateral discussions with senior military officials, cross-deck visits, cultural exchanges, and sports fixtures to promote people-to-people connect, " wrote the Navy spokesperson in an X post.