As part of India’s ‘Act East’ policy, the Indian Navy’s Eastern Fleet, under the command of Rear Admiral SV Bhokare, sailed out on Wednesday on a two and half-month long operational deployment to the South China and North West Pacific. During this overseas deployment, the ships will make port calls at Cam Rahn Bay (Vietnam), Subic Bay (Philippines), Sasebo (Japan), Busan (South Korea), Vladivostok (Russia) and Port Klang (Malaysia).
Indigenously built guided missile stealth frigates, INS Satpura and INS Sahyadri, Shakti, a sophisticated fleet support ship and INS Kirch an indigenous guided missile corvette are participating in this deployment, officials said here on Wednesday.
The visits to each port will last four days and are aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and enhancing inter-operability between the navies. During the stay in harbour, various activities such as official calls and professional interaction between naval personnel of both the nations have been planned. In addition to showing the Flag in this region of vital strategic importance to India, these ships will also participate in MAlABAR-16, a maritime exercise with the US Navy and Japan Navy, they said.