India and China will
hold their first-ever joint naval exercises off the Shanghai port
on Nov. 14 in which frontline warships of the two navies and
aircraft and helicopters will take part.
A naval spokesman told
the Press Trust of India in New Delhi Wednesday that an
Indian naval task force comprising three warships -- INS Ranjit, a
Russian guided missile destroyer, INS Kulish, a guided missile
corvette and INS Jyoti, a replenishment tanker -- have set sail for
the South China Sea and will be making a port call at Shanghai from
Nov. 10-14.
"The task force will
carry out search and rescue exercise (Sarex) with the units of the
People's Liberation Navy on Nov. 14 in the East China Sea," the
spokesman said. The taskforce is commanded by Rear Admiral R. P.
Suthan, Flag Officer Commanding, Eastern Fleet.
Describing the exercises
as a "stepping stone in enhancing inter-operability between the two
navies", the spokesman said that the decision to hold the joint
exercises was taken during the Prime Minister Atal Bihari
Vajpayee's visit to China in June.
The spokesman said the
exercise was aimed at ensuring the safety of maritime trade and
improving coordination in search and rescue at sea.
This would be the first
time that the armed forces of the countries, hitherto locked in
eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation for over four decades, would be
undertaking an exercise of this magnitude.
The exercises assume
significance as navigation in the South China Sea and the
neighboring Malacca Straits has been plagued by sea
piracy.
India, Indonesia,
Singapore as well as the US navies, have been cooperating over the
last few years to hold regular joint patrolling of the sea lanes in
the area.
(Xinhua News Agency
November 6, 2003)