Indian Navy Training Ships Leave Seychelles After Joint Drills And Shore Training

Three Indian vessels left Seychelles on 15 October after a four-day port call that included joint drills at sea with the islands’ coast guard and training ashore for Seychellois forces, the Indian government said.

Image Source: @hci_seychelles on X

The ships — the naval vessels INS Tir and INS Sujata and the coast guard ship Sarathi, which make up the Indian Navy’s First Training Squadron — arrived at Port Victoria on 12 October during what the ministry described as an ongoing training deployment.

The squadron’s senior officer and the commanding officers of the three ships called on Major General Michael Rosette, chief of the Seychelles Defence Forces. The two sides discussed bilateral cooperation.

Indian personnel conducted firefighting and small-arms training for Seychellois troops, and the two navies ran cross-training visits. The squadron carried out a passage exercise with the Seychelles coast guard ship Andromache involving joint patrolling, communication drills and coordinated manoeuvres. India’s high commission in Victoria said the exercise took place after the ships left port and included joint surveillance, and described it as the culmination of the visit.

The programme also included a medical camp, a distribution of supplies at an elderly home at Point La Rue, a visit to the ships by schoolchildren and a performance by the Indian Navy band.

India described the deployment as part of MAHASAGAR, or Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions, the framework under which it conducts naval outreach across the Indian Ocean. 

Seychelles, an archipelago of about 115 islands lying east of the African mainland, sits close to shipping lanes carrying a substantial share of global seaborne trade, and India has supplied the country with patrol vessels and surveillance aircraft under earlier maritime security arrangements.