RI, India conduct coordinated patrol

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Mon, 09/03/2007 2:10 PM

INDONESIA: The navies of Indonesia and India, two maritime neighbors, will conduct a three-week coordinated naval patrol in the Andaman Sea starting this week, the Indian Embassy said in Jakarta.

""The opening ceremony of the coordinated patrol will be held at Sabang, Weh Island, on Monday. The exercise will conclude with a closing ceremony scheduled for Sept. 24 at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Island, in India, the embassy said in a press release.

It said two Indian naval ships namely the Cheetah, a landing ship, and Battimalv, a fast attack craft, along with an Indian naval dornier will participate in the coordinated patrol.

Cmde AVS Ramesh, the naval officer in charge of Port Blair, will attend the opening ceremony at Sabang. One Indonesian naval ship and one Indonesian naval aircraft will also participate in the exercise.

The ships and aircraft of the two navies will also conduct exercises at sea to improve interoperability.

The coordinated patrol is conducted twice annually under a protocol signed by the two navies in August 2002. The first coordinated naval patrol was conducted in September 2002.

According to the release, the patrols are mutually beneficial in countering sea robbery, smuggling, poaching and transnational crimes in the Andaman Sea. -- JP

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