Indian Navy warships conclude South African visit

Johannesburg: Three Indian Navy warships concluded their three-day diplomatic initiative in Durban on, a measure to highlight India's commitment towards the ties with South Africa.

INS Kolkata, INS Trikand and INS Aditya, under the command of Rear Admiral Ravneet Singh, were on an initiative to highlight India's participation in ensuring maritime security in the Indian Ocean region.

In the recent years, Indian navy has extended its role as defender of the Indian coastline to also ensuring the security of the country's strategic interest in the Indian Ocean region.

The ships, part of the Navy's Western Fleet, have been on a two-month long deployment to countries along the western rim of the Indian Ocean.

Other countries in the visit included Mozambique, Kenya, Tanzania, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles.

The Navy ships were visited by locals during the visit, most of them of Indian-origin.

"It was amazing to see the technological capability of India's fleet, they seem to be ready for any of the pirates who might want to move downwards in the Indian Ocean from Somalian waters," Anand Naidoo, who works on a fishing vessel, said.

A Hospital receptionist, Anitha Rajkumar said she just loved how everything on board was so spic and span on the ships.

Besides the public interaction, the Indian crew also met their South African counterparts at a professional level with a view to enhance the maritime cooperation and developing naval operation plans, including combating maritime threats of terrorism and piracy.

During a recent visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, both Modi and South African President Jacob Zuma highlighted cooperation in the field of defence, especially maritime security.

The latest visit followed one by INS Teg last November, when it participated in South Africa's naval base of Simon's Town, a tripartite exercise which also included the Brazilian Navy.

South Africa was also a participant at the International Fleet Review at Visakhapatnam, India in February this year.