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A Qatar-India joint naval exercise is in the offing. The discussions regarding the possible naval exercise are in an advanced stage, Rear Admiral Shekhar Sinha, Flag Officer Commanding, Western Fleet (FOCW), Indian Navy, said here yesterday.
Sinha was speaking to reporters at a press conference on board INS Delhi, which is on a five-day port call here.
India and Qatar can play a major role in maintaining permanent peace in Indian Ocean. Both the nations are committed to protect their respective territorial waters from non-State powers. “Essentially, we are patrolling the waters of Indian Ocean in order to preserve its use by legitimate mariners and also to deter the non-state operators from using those waters and we hope we will be holding the joint exercise in the near future.”, he said.
On the discussion with the Qatari counterparts, Sinha said the focus of the discussions was primarily to see whether Qatar have any serious interests in terms of training. “Qatar had visited India and had first hand information of Indian Navy’s potential.Indian delegation also visited Qatar. We hope the mutual visits will help to shape up things,” he added.
Asked whether Indian Navy has plans to sell its products in the region, Sinha said Indian Navy has no such business interests. But, if the host countries were keen on Indian defence products, they are free to visit its ship-building units.
Sinha termed the port call as an attempt to boost bilateral relations. Qatar is the first country in the region for Indian navy to make the port call. The Navy vessels will visit Kuwait, Manama, Al Jubail, Abu Dhabi, Muscat and Djibouti ports in the coming days, he said.
On Indian Navy’s role in combating global terrorism, Sinha said like all other Naval forces, Indian Navy is also actively involved in combating the menace. He repeated that the non-State elements could not be allowed to hamper the freedom of navigation. Indian Navy has extensive operations in its territorial waters to combat the threat, he said.
On the reports of India signing a defence treaty with certain GCC countries, the Indian Ambassador Dr George Joseph, said it is too early to talk about the signing of a defence pact. “It is true that we have plans for co-operation with these countries. But it is too premature to talk about the signing of a treaty. These are done on the basis of detailed bilateral talks, which are yet to take place,” the envoy said.
INS Delhi Commandant Captain Chandra Sekhar Azad, INS Beas commandant Captain Michael T Moraes, Indian Navy Defence Adviser Captain MD Suresh and Captain Karambio Singh were present.