India, Mozambique agree to fight piracy on high seas

New Delhi (PTI) - To tackle piracy on the high
seas, India and Mozambique Tuesday agreed to fight the menace
together in the Indian Ocean Region.
"India and Mozambique have agreed to work together on
the issue of maritime security so as to make Indian Ocean a
safe region for maritime trade," Indian Defence Ministry said
in a release.
This was agreed to during the delegation level talks
between the visiting Minister of National Defence of the
Republic of Mozambique Filipe Jacinto Nyussi and Indian
Defence Minister A K Antony here.
The visiting Defence Minister thanked India for the
help rendered by Indian Navy in the rescue of a Mozambican
shipping vessel from pirates off its coast last year.
During the talks, the two sides also discussed a
number of new areas for enhancing cooperation and
strengthening bilateral relations between the two countries.
Nyussi also met Navy Chief Admiral Nirmal Verma, Army
Chief General V K Singh and Vice Chief of Air Staff Air
Marshall NAK Browne.
The Minister will also visit key defence installations
including the Western Naval Command in Mumbai, National
Defence Academy and Armed Forces Medical College in Pune
besides the prestigious Army Research and Referral Hospital
here.
In March, 2006, the two countries signed a Memorandum
of Understanding on Defence Cooperation. Subsequently, two
meetings of the Joint Defence Working Group were held in 2008
and 2010.