India-ASEAN Naval Cooperation On
The Indian Navy's indigenous offshore patrol vessel, INS Saryu, will participate in a week-long ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) Disaster Relief Exercise (DiREx).
According to an official statement, the vessel is commanded by Cdr Sreekumar Pillai and operates under the Andaman and Nicobar Command.
The aim of ARF DiREx is to exercise information sharing and networking among national agencies of this region towards providing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) during natural calamities like Earthquakes, Tsunami, and so forth as well as Search and Rescue (SAR) for ships and aircraft lost in the sea.
Co-hosted by Malaysia and China, the exercise will kick-off on Sunday in Malaysia and see the participation of Thailand, apart from India. The exercise is being conducted in Penang, northern Malaysia, from May 24 to 28.
"The aim of the exercise is sharing of information and networking among national agencies of this region towards providing Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) during natural calamities like earthquakes and tsunami etc as well as Search and Rescue (SAR) for ships and aircraft lost at sea," the official statement added.
According to the Indian Navy, there was a consensus in the ASEAN Regional Forum on the need to better mitigate, manage and respond to natural and man-made disasters in the region.
Air Marshal P K Roy, Commander-in-Chief, Andaman and Nicobar Command, had commissioned INS Saryu into the Indian Navy at Goa on January 21, 2013. Designed and built by Goa Shipyard Limited, the ship aptly demonstrates the immense potential of the country's indigenous designing and ship building capabilities.
