India, Vietnam to hold joint naval exercise on Thursday

The commandant of Coast Guard Major General Nguyen Van Son and Inspector General Paramesh Sivamani, TM, Commander Coast Guard Region (East) welcomed the visiting Vietnam Coast Guardship which traversed a distance of 3575 nautical miles from her base port Hanoi, Vietnam. 

The joint exercise is expected provide an opportunity to strengthen cooperation and address maritime security threats including trafficking of people, drugs and firearms, piracy and illegal fishing. 

A total of three ships besides a helicopter and Dornier from Indian Coast Guard and the visiting ship of Vietnam Coast Guard will take part in the joint exercise, a release stated. The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT) vessel Sagar Manjusha will also participate in the joint exercise.

A six-member delegation headed by the Commandant of Vietnam Coast Guard also arrived for interaction with ICG and to witness the joint exercise and participation in various events organised between the two maritime forces. 

The relation between the two Coast Guards go way back with ICG ships calling on ports in Vietnam for professional interactions since 2001. The joint efforts are in continuation of the efforts by the governments of both the countries to enhance cooperation between the two coast guards. 

Tamil Nadu and Puducherry Naval Area (TN&PNA) celebrated the spirit of Swachhata Hi Seva on Gandhi Jayanti. Over 300 naval personnel took part in the clean-up drive. As part of it, the volunteers collected plastic waste from the sands of the coast near Marina beach. 

INS Parundu at Ramnathpuram, Naval Detachments at Rameshwaram and Nagapattinam, and NTS at Avadi joined the Swachhata Hi Seva campaign from their respective stations and took a pledge to extend their support for the campaign.