In pursuant of the India’s ‘Act East Policy’, two Indian Naval Ships proceeded on deployment to East and South-East Asia this year. INS Satpura and INS Kadmatt departed Visakhapatnam today to visit 12 ports in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Brunei and Russia. The two ships will be deployed for more than 3 months away from home port.
During this deployment, the ships will participate in the International Fleet Review hosted by the Association of South East Asian Countries (ASEAN) at Thailand. They will visit Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia and Brunei to commemorate the 25th anniversary 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. This year, for the first time, Ex-INDRA will witness the joint participation of Army, Navy and Air Force of both countries, thus, 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 underscores India’s peaceful presence and harmonious relations with the countries in the region. The deployment aims to strengthen existing bonds between India and the regional countries. Besides making port calls, the visit of ships will help in people-to-people interactions, meetings between Indian Naval delegations with local dignitaries, and naval exercises to share best practices at sea and enhance interoperability.
India had made great strides in field of warship design and construction. INS Satpura and INS Kadmatt are both indigenously built warships. INS Satpura, synonymous with the formidable mountain range in Central India, is a multi-role stealth frigate and is commanded by Captain Rahul Shankar. INS Kadmatt, named after an island in the beautiful Lakshadweep chain, is an Anti-Submarine Corvette and is commanded by Commander Nithin Cariappa.