Ahead of Eleventh Fleet Review, Navy ships take part in global tasks

In the past 45 days, the Navy has had an exercise with the British navy at Plymouth on the south of Devon in London on the edge of the Atlantic; the tall ship Tarangini have travelled across the western hemisphere; four of the navy ships have been visiting various sea ports of West Asia; INS Tarkash and <g data-gr-id="39">Shahyadri</g> are being sent to Japan to take part in their International Fleet Review.

INS Deepak, Delhi, Tabar and Trishul are on a month-long deployment to the Gulf to enhance bilateral ties and engage in naval exercises with friendly regional navies. Significantly, of the four ships, INS Delhi and INS Trishul entered Al-Jubail port in Saudi Arabia on September 10 and stayed there till September 13, when the warships had professional interactions to enhance <g data-gr-id="31">co-operation</g> and understanding the nuances of naval operations including disaster management and combatting maritime threats of terrorism and piracy.

Following this, the four ships, INS Deepak and INS Tabar entered Kuwait Sunday, September 13 and remained moored there till September 16. Indian navy personnel interacted with the Kuwaiti defence personnel and held discussions on <g data-gr-id="30">shipmanship</g>, counter-terrorism, besides the issues of disaster management.

Simultaneously, INS Delhi and INS Trishul entered Doha, Qatar on 13 September and remained there till September 17, during which the warships took part of demonstrations in countering various seaborne threats.

Navy’s spokesperson, Captain DK Sharma remembered the long traditions of West Asian nations of maritime interactions with India that went back four thousand years.

“Bilateral relations between India and Qatar have traditionally focussed on economic and people-to-people linkages. The booming trade relations could soon see India as Qatar’s largest trading partner. The last decade witnessed steady growth in the defence relations between the countries, which was further strengthened by the ‘Defence Cooperation Agreement’ signed between the two countries in November 2008,” Sharma pointed out.

‘India-Qatar Joint Defence Cooperation Committee,’ born out of this agreement, enhanced cooperation in the fields of training, strategic study, <g data-gr-id="44">conduct</g> of exercises and information sharing. 

The growing naval cooperation between the countries is evidenced by the increased <g data-gr-id="43">high level</g> visits in addition to cross training of naval officers and port visits by naval ships.  

India and Qatar are also members of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), a voluntary and co-operative initiative between 35 countries of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), which has served as an ideal forum for sharing of information and cooperation on maritime issues. 

The current visit seeks to underscore India’s peaceful presence and solidarity with the friendly countries in the Persian Gulf and strengthen the existing bonds of friendship between India and Qatar.