DOHA: Indian naval ships INS Delhi and INS Trishul reached Doha in Qatar yesterday on a goodwill visit to further strengthen bilateral ties and cooperation with the Gulf nation. During the visit, officials will share best practices and experiences with Qatari officials. The visiting ships form part of the Indian Navy’s Western Fleet and are based at Mumbai.
Four ships of the Indian Navy — INS Deepak, INS Delhi, INS Tabar and INS Trishul — are on a month-long deployment to the Gulf to enhance bilateral ties and engage in naval exercises with friendly regional navies. All four ships are from the Indian Navy’s Mumbai-based Western Fleet.
“The visit of INS Delhi and INS Trishul would further strengthen the deep-rooted bonds of friendship between India and Qatar, and defence cooperation between the two countries,” said Sanjiv Arora, Indian ambassador to Qatar in a press conference yesterday.
The ambassador added that growing naval cooperation between India and Qatar is further demonstrated by the increased high level visits in addition to training of naval officers and port visits by naval ships. India and Qatar are also members of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), a voluntary and cooperative initiative among 35 countries of the Indian Ocean Region, which has served as a highly useful forum for sharing of information and cooperation on maritime issues, he said.
INS Delhi and INS Trishul reached Qatar after spending four days at the Al-Jubail port in Saudi Arabia and will sail off on September 17 from Qatar.
The Peninsula
