The UK’s Littoral Response Group (LRG) arrived in Chennai on March 26, as the first engagement of its deployment to the Indian Pacific region.
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) Argus and RFA Lyme Bay which were engaged in maritime exercises with the Indian Navy in the Arabian Sea recently, would undergo essential maintenance at the Larsen & Toubro shipyard in Kattupalli near Chennai.
“This is the first time a Royal Navy vessel will undergo maintenance at an Indian shipyard — a direct result of the logistics-sharing agreement signed between the UK and India in 2022,” an official release from the British High Commission in New Delhi said.
The visit of the Littoral Response Group attested to the UK’s capability and commitment to the Indo Pacific, it quoted Brigadier Nick Sawyer, Defence Advisor, British High Commission. “It also signals the continued growing importance of the strategic defence partnership between the UK and India as we build towards achieving the ambition set out in the India-UK 2030 Roadmap.”
Following the completion of its maintenance in India, the LRG will operate in the Indo Pacific to conduct training, exercises, and wider engagement with allies and partners, it said.
