ASEAN India maritime exercise over in South China Sea, Indian warships move to new destination

New Delhi [India], May 8 (ANI): Amid reports that Chinese militia ships interrupted the path of the warships taking part in the ASEAN India maritime exercise, the sources said the drills ended without any interference and the two Indian warships have already started moving towards their new destination in the same region.

"The exercise is over and the Indian warships have moved towards their new destination in the same region," Indian Navy officials said.

The Indian warships there include the INS Delhi and the INS Satpura.

The sources said the ASEAN country warships were taking part in the war games and they ended without any interruption.

The AIME-23 was held at Changi Naval Base, Singapore from May 2-8. The ceremony was jointly inaugurated by Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff and Rear Admiral Sean Wat, Chief of Navy, Republic of Singapore Navy in the presence of senior dignitaries from other ASEAN nations.

This inaugural edition of AIME is being co-hosted by the Republic of Singapore Navy and the Indian Navy and will witness the participation of ships and personnel from other ASEAN countries.

ASEAN is at the core of India's Indo-Pacific Policy as was enunciated by the Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi in his speech at the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore in 2018. AIME reinforces this belief and India's commitment to 'Act East' in its endeavour to ensure 'Security and Growth for all in the Region' (SAGAR).

India's first indigenously-built destroyer, INS Delhi and INS Satpura, an indigenously-built guided missile stealth frigate along with a P8I Maritime Patrol aircraft will participate in the Inaugural ASEAN India Maritime Exercise.

The participating ships form a part of the Indian Navy's Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam and operate under the command of RAdm Gurcharan Singh, the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet. (ANI)