VISAKHAPATNAM (AP): The
eastern fleet of the
Indian navy -
INS Shakti and
INS Kamorta - under the command of Rear Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi entered the Port of Makassar, Indonesia, on Saturday.
The three-day visit is to foster professional interaction, sports fixtures and social interactions with the
Indonesian navy, a release from the Indian Navy said here.
The ships would be open to visitors.
The visit aims to further strengthen the strong bond and mutual understanding between the two navies, according to the release.
The presence of the frontline warships comes soon after both countries elevated their bilateral ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Indonesia on May29, the release said.
Also, the trip seeks to enhance maritime cooperation between the two navies for security and stability in the region and further bolster strong bonds of friendship India has with Indonesia, it said.
INS Shakti, a fleet tanker, commanded by captain SA Joglekar and indigenously-built stealth Corvette INS Kamorta, commanded by commander Saiket Chatterjee, are on the last leg of their two-month operational deployment to Southeast Asia and western Pacific Ocean, it said.
The deployment included the participation in MALABAR-18, a trilateral exercise between the Indian navy, US navy and the Japanese maritime self-defence force (JMSDF) which was held off Guam, an island territory of the US, in the Pacific Ocean, the release said.
The two ships, along with INS Sahyadri, had left Visakhapatnam for the deployment on April 30 this year and over the last two months visited Singapore, Sattahip (Thailand), Kota Kinabalu (Malaysia) DA Nang (Vietnam) and Guam (USA).
On completion of the MALABAR exercise, INS Sahyadri had proceeded to Hawaii to participate in RIMPAC exercise involving participationof 26 navies, the release added.