India and France are preparing to launch a joint maritime surveillance mission in the Southern Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as their air force chiefs took to the skies in fighter jets, on Tuesday, for the ongoing "Garuda" air combat exercise in Jodhpur.
According to officials, a P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft from the Indian navy has reportedly landed at the strategically located La Réunion, a French overseas island that is east of Madagascar and southwest of Mauritius, for coordinated surveillance and ocean-mapping operations with the French Navy.
