India, April 16 -- India and a group of African countries on Wednesday began the sea phase of their maiden naval drills in the western Indian Ocean region (IOR) to boost maritime security cooperation and address the shared challenges in a maritime expanse where China seeks to expand its presence, people familiar with the matter said.

The harbour phase of the six-day multilateral exercise called Aikeyme (Africa India Key Maritime Engagement) ended at Dar es Salaam in Tanzania on Tuesday, paving the way for the sea phase where the participating navies will conduct joint manoeuvres, anti-piracy drills, visit, board, search, and seizure (VBSS) exercises, and search-and-rescue operations, the Indian Navy said on Wednesday.

"Aikeyme-25 reinfo...