An Indian Navy ship also delivered ceremonial saluting guns to Seychelles

The Indian Navy facilitated the training of Seychelles Defence Forces personnel in domain specific maritime disciplines during the visit of Indian Naval Ship Gharial to Port Victoria last week.

INS Gharial had called at Port Victoria, Seychelles from May 11-14 as part of its deployment under Mission SAGAR IX in the South West Indian Ocean.

"Coming close to the recent official visit of Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy to Seychelles from 21-23 Apr 22, the activities undertaken during the port call of INS Gharial, amply demonstrate the commitment of Indian Navy in making positive contribution to capacity building and capability enhancement efforts of the Seychelles Defence Forces," the Ministry of Defence said on Saturday.

India also delivered three ceremonial Saluting Guns, with ammunition, to the Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF) on Friday. This followed a proposal received from the Government of Seychelles earlier.

The guns were formally presented by High Commissioner of India to Seychelles Gen Dalbir Singh Suhag (Retd) to Chief of Defence (CDF), SDF Brigadier Michael Rosette in a solemn ceremony held onboard INS Gharial, the Ministry of Defence said on Saturday.

INS Gharial also transshipped one 15 m Wave Rider Patrol Boat, sourced by Seychelles from Colombo. This was also handed over to Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF), the defence ministry said.

Before calling at Port Victoria, the ship had also visited Colombo, Sri Lanka and Male, Maldives to deliver essential medical supplies.

Successive deployments of the Indian Navy under Mission SAGAR are aligned with the vision of Security And Growth for All in the Region and strengthen the concept of ‘Collective Responsibility’ for maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region, the defence ministry pointed out.