Seychelles Coast Guard in joint military exercise with Indian warships |29 August 2016

The Seychelles Coast Guard (SCG) yesterday took part in a joint military exercise with three visiting Indian Navy vessels.

The three frontline warships of India -- INS Kolkata, INS Trikand and INS Aditya --are under the command of Rear Admiral Ravneet Singh and will be in Seychelles until Sunday. 

Speaking to the Seychelles News Agency (SNA) on Friday, Lieutenant Colonel Jean Attala of the Seychelles People’s Defence Forces (SPDF) said the three vessels would take part in a ship boarding exercise with the SCG’s patrol ship, Andromache.

The exercise involved inspection on a boat to see if it is involved in any illegal activity.

“This exercise will be beneficial to both naval forces as they will have a better understanding of each other’s approach and how to coordinate their work better,” said Lt Col. Attala.

The exercise yesterday took place just off Port Victoria.

In a statement to the press earlier last week, the Indian High Commission in Seychelles said the deployment of the Indian Navy ships adds yet another chapter to the strong defence and maritime cooperation between India and Seychelles.

“The Indian Navy has been undertaking biannual deployment towards surveillance of the Seychelles Exclusive Economic Zone in joint operations with the Seychelles Coast Guard for the past few years in pursuance of a Defence Cooperation Agreement between the two countries,” said the statement. 

The visit formed part of its two-month-long deployment in the Southern Indian Ocean in line with the Indian government’s vision of ‘Security and Growth for All in the Region’ (SAGAR).

One of the ships, INS Kolkata, is the largest destroyer of the Indian Navy and was commissioned in August 2014. The visit over the weekend was her maiden overseas deployment in the Indian Ocean region.

While in Seychelles, the crew also took part in social and charitable activities. Rear Admiral Singh and his accompanying commanding officers also called on several Seychelles top officials.

Defence and maritime security are one of the major fields of cooperation between India and Seychelles, which has been going on since the latter gained independence in 1976.