South Africa, China, Russia to hold joint naval drills in February

South Africa, China and Russia will jointly stage naval drills in February to strengthen the already flourishing relations between the three countries. The African country will host the training.

“South Africa will host the Chinese and Russian Federation navies in a multilateral maritime exercise between February 17 and 27,” the South African military confirmed in a statement.

The joint maneuvers will take place off Durban, the largest port in southern Africa, and Richards Bay some 180 km further north, the statement said.

“This will be the second time that such an exercise is held in the presence of the three naval forces, the first having taken place in November 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa,” the army added.

The maneuvers involve more than 350 South African military personnel from several services and divisions alongside their Russian and Chinese counterparts with the aim of sharing skills and operational knowledge, the statement said.

The three countries are member of the BRICS alliance which also includes India and Brazil. South Africa has not condemned Russia’s ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

But at home the opposition Democratic Alliance has slammed the decision.