China, Russia, South Africa to hold naval exercise off South African coast, Beijing says

BEIJING: China will hold naval and air exercises with ​Russia, South Africa and other BRICS countries off South Africa’s coast in early to mid January, China’s defense ‌ministry said ‌in ‌a ⁠statement ​released ‌on Friday.

The ministry called the exercises “joint operations to safeguard vital shipping lanes and economic activities.” Strikes on maritime ⁠targets and counter-terrorism rescues ‌will be ‍part of the ‍drills, it said.

Originally ‍formed by Brazil, Russia, India and China, the BRICS group later ​added South Africa and recently expanded to include ⁠other developing nations including Indonesia, Iran and Saudi Arabia. The Chinese defense ministry did not specify how many BRICS nations will participate in the exercises. Agencies