Ships of Indian Navy's First Training Squadron to be deployed to South East Asia

New Delhi, Jan 7 (PTI) Three naval ships and an ICG vessel of the Indian Navy's First Training Squadron will be part of the long range training deployment to South East Asia, reinforcing India's sustained maritime engagement with nations in the region, officials said on Wednesday.

The long range training deployment (LRTD) underscores the Navy's emphasis on training excellence while contributing to maritime diplomacy, goodwill and cooperative approach to regional maritime security, the defence ministry said.

The ships of the First Training Squadron (1TS) of the Indian Navy -- INS Tir, INS Shardul, INS Sujata and Indian Coast Guard (ICG) ship Sarathi -- will be proceeding on an LRTD to South East Asia as part of a training curriculum of the 110th Integrated Officers' Training Course (IOTC), the ministry said in a statement.

As part of the deployment, the squadron is scheduled to undertake port calls at Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand, the officials said.

The 110th Integrated Officers' Training Course includes six international officer trainees, reflecting Indian Navy's continued commitment to capacity building and professional training of personnel from friendly nations, they said.

In addition, personnel from the Indian Army and the Indian Air Force have also embarked for the deployment, further strengthening jointness and cohesiveness between the services, the officials said.

"The deployment is aimed at providing comprehensive operational and cross-cultural exposure to officer trainees, while reinforcing India's sustained maritime engagement with South East Asian nations in consonance with India's Act East Policy and vision for a free, open and inclusive Indian Ocean Region," the ministry said.

During these port visits, a wide range of professional interactions, training engagements and cooperative activities are planned with the host navies and maritime agencies. These include structured training exchanges, cross-deck visits, interactions with various subject matter experts and joint maritime partnership exercises, it said.

These engagements are designed to further enhance interoperability, mutual trust and understanding, while promoting the exchange of best practices at sea. PTI KND KVK KVK