Indian naval ships complete deployment to South China Sea

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indian-naval-ships-complete-deployment-to-south-china-sea/article68215394.ece

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    SS: India continues to expand its maritime engagement with Southeast Asia as part of the larger cooperation in the Indo-Pacific in line with Act East and ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) centrality. In the latest such engagement, three Indian Navy ships — destroyer Delhi, fleet tanker Shakti and anti-submarine corvette Kiltan — concluded an operational deployment to South China Sea under the Navy’s Eastern Fleet that saw port calls beginning with Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Philippines and Brunei.
    In another development last week, the second edition of the India-Australia-Indonesia trilateral maritime security workshop as well as the India-Australia navy staff talks were held in Kochi. Eight initiatives to boost maritime cooperation were agreed, according to the Australian Navy.

    Southeast Asia is a major focus area as India looks to scale up its defence exports and several countries have expressed interest in procuring a range of Indian military hardware, including BrahMos cruise missiles, helicopters, radars among others. In addition to common maritime threats, the rapid expansion of Chinese naval presence in the region is a matter of concern for all the countries.

    On May 24, anti-submarine corvette INS Kiltan arrived at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam, and both sides conducted a maritime partnership exercise at sea towards enhancing “interoperability and exchange of best practices”. Last July, Indian handed over indigenous missile corvette INS Kirpan that was decommissioned from service, the first instance of India gifting a fully operational corvette to any friendly foreign country.