LOCAL SATURDAY, MAY 14, 2016

Indian naval ships INS Delhi (right) and INS Deepak (left) are docked at Shuwaikh Port. India looks to sign MoU with Kuwait on defense cooperation Three Indian naval ships in Kuwait on goodwill visit

By Sajeev K Peter

KUWAIT: India is looking to sign a memorandum of under- standing (MoU) with Kuwait to further strengthen defense cooperation between the two countries, said Indian Ambassador Sunil Jain on Thursday. He was talking to the Kuwait media onboard visiting Indian naval ship INS Delhi, accompanied by Rear Admiral Ravneet Singh NM, flag officer commanding of India’s Western Naval Fleet. Three Indian naval ships - INS Delhi, INS Tarkash and INS Deepak - arrived at Shuwaikh Port on Thursday on a three-day goodwill visit. Captain of INS Delhi Capt Sandeep Singh Sandhu, captain of INS Tarkash Capt Pradeep Singh, captain of INS Deepak Capt Sujit Kumar Chhetri and India’s defense attache, the Gulf region, Capt Gurpal Singh, were also present at the press conference. Jain, Ravneet Singh and captains of the three ships called on Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Sheikh Khalid KUWAIT: Indian Ambassador Sunil Jain, India’s Western Naval Fleet commander Rear Admiral Ravneet Singh NM and the Jarrah Al-Sabah on Thursday morning. Chief of General Staff captains of three Indian ships during a press conference on board INS Delhi on Thursday. — Photos by Jospeh Shagra and Deputy Chief of General Staff of Kuwait Armed Forces and fessional interactions with the Kuwaiti naval force pertaining to King helicopters, capable of both anti-submarine as well as anti- Commander of Kuwait naval forces were also present during nuances of maritime operations, including means of combating surface operations. the meeting. “We discussed various issues involving bilateral maritime terrorism and . In addition, the officers will call INS Deepak was commissioned in Jan 2011 and it is a mod- cooperation including the possibility of signing an MoU to fur- on senior Kuwaiti government and military authorities to bolster ern fleet tanker designed to be utilized as a fleet support ship. It ther expand defense cooperation. This proposed MoU could cooperation and strengthen mutual understanding between has adequate facility for providing frontline support to fleet serve as an umbrella suiting the interests of both countries. the two navies. ships and has an advanced Integrated Platform Management India and Kuwait are also members of the Indian Ocean Naval “We want to enhance our friendship with the navy of System which seamlessly integrates auxiliaries and battle dam- Symposium (IONS),” the ambassador added. IONS is a voluntary Kuwait, taking our relationship to the next level, learn some age management of the ship using microprocessor-based digi- initiative that seeks to increase maritime cooperation among good things from the navy of Kuwait and share our experi- tal control systems. navies of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean region. Currently, ences with them. When we sail out, we will hold joint exercis- Commissioned in Nov 2012, INS Tarkash remains one of 35 countries are members of IONS. es,” said Rear Admiral Singh. the latest platforms for the and is a workhorse of the Western Fleet. Its weapon package includes surface-to- Bridges of friendship Incidents of piracy surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, advanced torpedo “We, in the Indian navy, build bridges of friendship over “Incidents of piracy have come down significantly in the last launchers, anti-missile defense system and 100mm guns. It is oceans. We visit friendly countries, make friends, learn from few months, thanks to the joint patrolling of the navies togeth- thus capable of accomplishing a wide variety of naval mis- their experience and go back,” Ravneet Singh said, elaborating er,” he added. IONS has declared that the Indian Ocean region is sions, primarily finding and eliminating enemy submarines on the purpose of the visit of the three naval ships, which is by free of piracy as it has been now contained only to the Gulf of and large surface ships. far the largest Indian naval contingent visiting Kuwait. “In IONS, Aden. Talking about the massive evacuation called ‘Operation The last goodwill call by the Indian navy was in Sept 2015 we are all like-minded people who meet together, discuss prob- Rahat’ from war-torn Yemen in last April, Captain Pradeep of INS when INS Deepak and INS Tabar visited Kuwait. Recently, on lems and chart out our way. We learn from each other’s Tarkash, said: “In one of the largest evacuation missions, three an invitation from the Indian side, an official from Kuwait’s strengths, try to share our experiences and make up for our Indian ships rescued nearly 7,000 people from 31 countries.” ministry of defense joined the 72nd Course of Defense weaknesses. It is a combined effort, and as we understand, there Commissioned in Nov 1997, INS Delhi was the first ship Services Staff College in Wellington, India. The Indian ships are problems such as natural disasters and terrorism. If we work designed in India itself, with 6,700-ton guided missile destroy- sailed off from India on May 3. After leaving Kuwait tomorrow, together, we can fight and defeat them,” he said. ers. It is a multipurpose command and control platform capable the vessels will call on ports at Bahrain and Muscat before During the stay, the crew of Indian naval ships will hold pro- of operating in a multi-threat environment. It carries two Sea returning to on May 27.