Two Indian Naval Ships depart on deployment to East and South-East Asia

In pursuant of India's 'Act East Policy', two Indian Naval Ships (INS) on Friday proceeded on deployment to East and South-East Asia.

INS Satpura commanded by Captain Rahul Shankar, and INS Kadmatt commanded by Commander Nithin Cariappa, departed from Visakhapatnam for a deployment of more than three months, to visit 12 ports in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Brunei and Russia.

During this deployment, the ships will participate in the International Fleet Review hosted by the Association of South East Asian Countries (ASEAN) at Thailand, and will visit Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia and Brunei to commemorate the 25thanniversary of India-ASEAN dialogue.

The ships will also participate in the Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) exercise at Malaysia.

At Russia, the ships will participate in the annual India-Russia bilateral exercise INDRA. In a first of its kind event, Ex-INDRA will witness the joint participation of Army, Navy and Air Force of both countries this year, marking a major milestone in the bilateral relations between the two countries.

The Indian Navy routinely undertakes deployment of ships to friendly nations. The visit of Indian Naval Ships to East and South-East Asia is supposed to underscore India's peaceful presence and strengthen the harmonious relations with countries in the region.

The deployment also aims to facilitate people-to-people interactions, meetings between Indian Naval delegations with local dignitaries, and naval exercises to share best practices at sea and enhance interoperability.