Indian Naval ship Trishul will make a port call at Mombasa from May 26-29 as part of the country’s Navy’s deployment to five African countries.
Through a statement on Wednesday, India High Commission in Kenya said the port call reflects India’s cordial ties with Kenya, a maritime neighbour.
“During the port call, personnel from both navies will engage in a wide range of professional interactions, deck visits and sports exchanges, aimed at enhancing cooperation and mutual understanding,” the High Commission said.
On Saturday, May 27, the India and Kenya Navy personnel will jointly participate in a Yoga session at Mtongwe Naval Base, Mombasa, as a curtain raiser for the ninth International Day of Yoga that will be marked worldwide on June 21.
“As part of India’s celebrations this year, yoga is also being performed in numerous ports around the world to form an ‘Ocean Ring of Yoga’,” the statement added.
On Monday, May 29 both navies will participate in a Maritime Partnership Exercise. Kenya and India enjoy close bilateral relations, including in defence.
The two states held the second Joint Defence Cooperation Committee in Nairobi on November 8-9, 2022.
The JDCC meeting was co-chaired by Joint Secretary (Armed Forces), Shri Manish Tripathi and Major General Frederick Leuria, Assistant Chief of Defence Forces, Operations, Plans, Doctrine and Training from Kenya.
During the meeting, the two sides reviewed the progress made in military-to-military engagements, including joint exercises, training, high level visits, expert exchanges, industry cooperation and cooperation in research and development.
“It was decided to identify new avenues and examine areas of mutual interest in order to enhance defence industry cooperation, including by exploring joint ventures. Both sides underlined the warm and friendly relations enjoyed by India and Kenya that have evolved into a multi-faceted partnership, marked by high-level visits, increasing trade and investment as well as extensive people to people contacts,” the High Commission said at the time.
INS Trishul is the second frigate of the Talwar class of Indian Navy, which was commissioned into Indian Navy on June 25, 2003. The 3700 tonne and 125 meters long vessel is fitted with state-of-the-art equipment and incorporates stealth features.
The ship is equipped with a versatile array of weapons and sensors and can carry multi-role helicopters. It has top speed of 30 knots and an endurance of 30 days at sea. The ship carries crew of 30
officers and 300 sailors and is being commanded by Captain Kapil Kaushik.
In 2018, Indian Naval Ship Tarkash also visited Mombasa as part of its deployment to Central Indian Ocean. As part of harbour activities, a visit of trainees from Kenyan Naval Training School was organised onboard to acquaint them with functioning of multi-role guided missile frigates of the Indian Navy as well as operations undertaken.
A visit to Kenyan Maritime School was organised for the visiting crew. The ship undertook joint manoeuvres with Kenyan Naval Ship KNS Jasiri on her departure from Mombasa.
In July last year, India also dispatched the ship for five months, making 14 port calls in 11 countries in Europe, South America and Africa. In what was termed as reinforcing Indian Navy’s commitment to maritime security, INS Tarkash was deployed in the Gulf of Guinea for anti-piracy operations.
