By IANS,
New Delhi : The Indian Navy has sent warship INS Tabar to the Gulf of Aden to conduct anti-piracy operations, an official source said here Sunday. The navy’s guided missile frigate INS Beas is already in the region patrolling the seas against pirates. “INS Tabar has sailed from Mumbai to the Gulf of Aden to conduct patrolling,” a senior navy official told IANS requesting anonymity.
The Gulf of Aden have turned extremely dangerous for commercial ships following attacks by Somalia-based pirates. India is among several countries, including the US, Britain, France, Iran, South Korea and China, who have sent warships to patrol the seas to prevent attacks.
INS Tabar, one of the frontline warships of the navy, last year was successful in repulsing pirate attacks and sinking one of the pirates’ “mother ship”.
The Indian Navy had recently scaled down its anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. The navy replaced its Delhi class missile-guided destroyer INS Mysore by a smaller INS Beas due to operational engagements back home.
The move has come days after reports appeared in the Chinese media that an Indian submarine and two Chinese warships, on anti-piracy mission in the region, were “locked in a tense standoff for at least an hour” after which the Indian submarine was forced to surface.
The Indian Navy had, however, said that none of its submarines was there.