Indian naval ship on goodwill visit showcases capacities

Besides hoping to boost relations with Qatar, Indian Naval Ship (INS) Mumbai, which is on a three-day visit of the country, will showcase the naval capacities of the South Asian nation to their Qatari counterparts.

The ship, which arrived on Tuesday morning carrying more than 300 naval personnel, is berthed at the Hamad Port and will return to Mumbai on Thursday.

The reception ceremony was attended by the Indian military attache and a number of Qatari naval officers.

The Indian and Qatari sides will take part in a joint military exercise, Passex, the Directorate of Defence Communication at the Ministry of Defence said in a statement. It is aimed at the exchange of expertise and testing the efficiency of equipment in addition to raising the operational efficiency of ships’ command, the statement noted.

The exercise is an outcome of previous agreements as part of defence co-operation between the two friendly countries.

INS Mumbai, the second from the Indian Navy to visit Qatar in less than six months, has performed security and defence duties in different parts of the world, in recent years, some of its officials told the visiting media who were on a visit of the vessel yesterday. The ship arrived directly from Mumbai, where it is stationed, to the Hamad Port.

“The Indian Navy has been active for several years now in providing security and safety to the numerous vessels, especially oil tankers passing through the Gulf of Aden as part of a combined international maritime defence force and many of the vessels are taking turns to perform duties there,” recalled an official while reiterating their naval force’s commitment to the whole region.

The ship was involved in a number of Humanitarian Assistance and disaster relief operations including Operation Sukoon — evacuation of the Indian, Sri Lankan, Nepalese and Lebanese citizens from Lebanon (2006) and Operation Raahat (2015) wherein over 5,600 Indian and foreign citizens were rescued from strife-torn Yemen amidst gunfire and shelling,

The INS Mumbai is developed wholly in India’s Mazagon Dock and is the third of the Delhi Class, equipped with missile destroyers. “The ship represents the advances India has made in maritime technology and capability over the years,” said the Indian naval official. Other officials also gave a brief account of the capacities and capabilities of the ship and explained the salient features of the machine room and bridge.

With a displacement of 6,700 tonnes, overall length of 163m and beam of 17m, INS Mumbai has been recognised as a sophisticated ship, with the capability of carrying two multi-role helicopters providing it with enormous power and reach to counter threats in all the three dimensions.

AK 100, the main gun at the bow of the ship is a 100mm gun sourced from Russia and the vessel is fitted with four AK 630 guns capable of rapid firing against incoming missiles. INS Mumbai is also equipped with 16 surface-to-surface missiles of the ‘Uran’ system.

The vessel is also equipped with two RBU-6000 anti-submarine rocket launchers with 12 tubes each and it also has the capability to launch heavyweight torpedoes to target enemy submarines.

في إطار تنفيذ برنامج التعاون العسكري المشترك القطري الهندي، رست صباح أمس بميناء حمد، المدمرة الهندية «مومباي دي 62» في توقّف يدوم حتى 20 من الشهر نفسه.

حضر استقبال المدمرة -التي يقودها الكابتن أميت سريفستافا، والتي يصل طاقمها إلى 321 فرداً بينهم 32 ضابطاً- الملحق العسكري الهندي، وعدد من ضباط القوات البحرية القطرية.

خلال فترة التوقف هذه، سيشرع الطرفان القطري والهندي في تنفيذ تمرين «PASSEX»، والذي يشمل تمارين مشتركة تهدف إلى تبادل الخبرات واختبار كفاءة الأجهزة، إضافة إلى رفع الكفاءة العملياتية لقادة السفن.

يأتي هذا التمرين بناءً على اتفاقيات مسبقة في إطار التعاون الدفاعي الثنائي بين البلدين الصديقين.;