By IANS,
New Delhi : As part of India’s ‘Look East’ policy, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta Tuesday began a visit to Japan and South Korea which will be followed by three Japanese ships touching down on Mumbai shores to engage in advance passage exercise.
“Admiral Mehta will be visiting Japan and South Korea Aug 19-24, taking further the Indian Navy’s endeavour – the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) held last year,” a naval officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Mehta will be meeting Japanese Minister of Defence Shigeru Ishiba and Vice Minister of Defence Kohei Masuda. Mehta will visit Tokyo, Yokosuka, Hiroshima and Kyoto.
“The navy chief will also visit the Yokohoma shipyard, the frontline ships of Japanese navy and Japanese naval bases,” said the official.
During his recent visit to foreign countries, Mehta visited shipyards there for inputs to help in value addition for the indigenous ship building industry.
“In South Korea, the navy chief will visit the submarines of the South Korean Navy and meet its minister of defence. He will also visit the South Korean naval academy,” the official added.
The naval chief’s visit will be followed by the visit of three Japanese ships – 3,500 tonne destroyer JDS Asagiri and JDS Umigiri, and the 5,400-tonne ship JDS Kashima – on Aug 23.
“The three ships will come off Mumbai coast and on their way out will engage in an exercise with Indian navy ships INS Beas and INS Godavari. The JDS Asagiri and JDS Umigiri are equipped with Harpoon, Sea Sparrow missiles and Sea Hawk helicopters,” the official said.
“The ships will be conducting flying operations, cross deck operations and over the head targeting exercise,” the official added.
The visit and exercise are seen as part of the ‘Look East’ policy of the Indian defence establishment that gained foothold with the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS). The objectives of the IONS is to promote a shared understanding of the maritime issues facing the littoral states of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and the formulation of a common set of strategies designed to enhance regional maritime security.
The IOR stretches from 20 degree East to 147 degree East. IOR is considered the third largest water body, occupies 20 percent of the world’s oceanic area and spreads across 73.6 million sq km. Thirty-three countries from Africa to Australia form littoral states of the IOR.