NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy is benefitting from strategic logistics agreements signed by the NDA government with the US and France as its warships operating in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean Region are frequently getting fuel and other support for these countries’ naval bases and warships in the area.
“Our warships operate as per our mission-based deployments in the Indian Ocean Region, Gulf of Aden and the Persian Gulf are far away from our shores. The strategic logistics agreements with the US and France are helping them get fuel and other support from them,” senior Naval sources told ANI.
The recent example is the help provided to Indian warships deployed for anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Aden where the pacts have enhanced their ease of operations.
“Earlier, the warships in Gulf of Aden used to go to the nearby ports for replenishing their fuel and other stocks on regular intervals. But after the agreement with the US, the warships take fuel from the American Navy oil tankers deployed in that region to meet their fuel requirements,” the sources said.
Sources said that the US Navy also refuels and replenishes from the Indian Navy bases for which the payments are made later, but at the moment the Indian Navy seems to be the bigger beneficiary of the pact.
Likewise, the French naval bases Djibouti and the Reunion Islands near Mauritius have also helped the Indian Navy warships operate freely and far away from its shores.
Navy says the pacts have also helped the maritime force to fulfil its mandate of being the first responder and security provider in the Indian Ocean region as per the task given to it by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Apart from the anti-piracy missions, the Indian Navy ships have also been Mission Deployed for Operation ‘GULFDEP’ in the Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf, and Operation ‘MALDEP’ in the Andaman Sea till the Malacca Strait.
Malacca Strait is the area from where the Chinese Navy vessels enter the Indian Ocean Region.
While India and France are strategic partners, in 2016, India signed the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) under which the two countries can refuel and replenish from each other’s designated bases.
India has also signed the Communication Compatibility and Security Agreement in 2018 after which the Indian Navy is talking with the Americans on a common platform at the operational headquarters level also.
Source: ET
Image Courtesy:TopYaps
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