Mauritius and India hold a joint military exercise in October in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Africa's Indian Ocean island country, official sources disclosed here on Wednesday.

The sources said the joint exercise end on Oct. 22 as part of India-Mauritius cooperation in maritime surveillance and the fight against piracy.

At least four Indian marine units comprising 500 soldiers are involved in the joint exercise with the Mauritius National Coast Guards and the Special Intervention Police.

A source in Port Louis told Xinhua that the joint exercise comes after the recent terrorist attack on the Westgate shopping mall in the Kenyan capital Nairobi and the start in Mauritius courts of the trial of Somali pirates, who were captured in Somali waters early in the year.

Since the weekend, Mauritius officers have been aboard Indian ships for training to operate the new patrol boat provided by India.

Indian marine units plan to carry out surveillance missions until Oct. 14 in the strategic zones of the Indian Ocean between Mauritius and the Seychelles. Endi

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