India warships to join Chinese fleet review in April

New Delhi, Mar 20 (PTI) In a sign of growing defence ties
between the two Asian giants, India will send two of its naval
ships to China to participate in the International Fleet
Review at its port-town of Quingdao this April.

This will be the second occasion in the last two years
that India's naval ships would visit a Chinese port.

"Indian warships will be participating in the Chinese
fleet review to be held between April 20 and 24. The Navy
ships would also carry out a passage exercise with the Chinese
navy vessels in the South China sea during the visit," a
senior Navy source said here Friday.

Pakistan too would be joining the fleet review with its
Type-21 frigate and another unnamed warship, sources said.

The visit to China would be part of Navy's annual
deployment of its warships of the eastern fleet in the Pacific
Ocean beginning today and extending up to May 19.

Among the Navy's eastern fleet, Delhi-class guided
missile Destroyer INS Mumbai, Rajput-class Destroyer INS
Ranvijay, Khukri-class missile Corvette INS Khanjar and Fleet
Replenishment Ship INS Jyoti would be part of the deployment
in the Pacific, the sources said.


Of these, INS Jyoti and another warship would take part
in the fleet review. India had earlier sent its warships to
China in early 2007 for a passage exercise.

On the way to the Chinese port, the Indian warships would
also visit several ports, including those in Singapore,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Japan and South Korea, where
they would carry out well-structured annual naval exercises
and passage exercises with the navies of those countries.

All the naval ships would not be visiting each of the
ports along the way. One or two ships from the deployment
would keep visiting the ports, while other ships sail along to
the next port. The ships calling on ports would join the rest
of the deployment after their respective port calls, a source
said.

The four warships, among themselves, would visit
Singapore, Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, Batam in Indonesia,
Manila in Philippines, Hai Phong in Vietnam, Busan in South
Korea and Sasebo in Japan, apart from Quingdao in China.
India also planned to send its warships from the
Western Fleet to the Atlantic Ocean for port calls all along
the way in West Asia and Africa, sources said.

The Western Fleet deployment will happen sometime in
May-June this year, they added.

The idea of these port calls and visit was to use naval
warships as tools of diplomacy. Moreover, Indian warships
would get to exercise with other navies, which hold western
platforms with them, thereby enhancing the navy's capabilities
and understanding, sources added. PTI NCB
SAK