Indian naval ships in Indonesia for annual bilateral exercise

As part of India's Act East policy, two Indian warships arrived in Indonesia's capital to conduct an annual bilateral exercise, the Indian embassy here announced on Tuesday.

INS Ranvir, a guided missile destroyer commanded by Captain Jaswinder Singh, and INS Shakti, a sophisticated fleet tanker and support ship commanded by Captain Vikram Menon, arrived in Jakarta on a four-day visit as part of an operational deployment to South East Asia and Southern Indian Ocean, the Indian embassy said in a statement here.

"The visit is aimed at further strengthening its already robust bilateral ties between the two countries and fostering inter-operability between the navies of these two friendly nations," the embassy statement said.

The navies of the two countries conduct regular coordinated patrols on their International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) and an annual bilateral exercise is being held this year as well.

During the stay of the two India ships in the harbour, various activities such as official calls, professional interaction between personnel of both the navies, reception on board and ship visits have been planned. On departure, the ships will exercise with Indonesian Navy for improving interoperability in maritime operations and search and rescue.

These ships, along with INS Satpura, an indigenously built guided missile stealth frigate, and INS Kamorta, an indigenously built anti-submarine corvette, are on a two-month-long deployment.

Speaking at the reception on board INS Shakti, Vice Admiral Satish Soni -- Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command -- thanked the Indonesian Navy for hosting them. He also said the navies of the two countries were exploring areas where they can further cooperate.

Addressing the gathering which largely comprised senior Indian and Indonesian naval officers, Indian Ambassador Gurjit Singh said the navies of the two countries were committed to safeguarding the sea lanes and checking piracy to ensure free trade for all countries of the region.

The two Indian naval ships will depart from Jakarta on June 4.

As part of this operational deployment, the ships of the Eastern Fleet of the Indian Navy visited Singapore from May 20 to 26 and took part in the bilateral naval exercise Simbex with the Republic of Singapore Navy.

These ships will also stop at Freemantle (Australia), Kuantan (Malaysia), Sattahip (Thailand), and Sihanoukville (Cambodia).