The First Training Squadron (1ITS) of the Indian Navy comprising of four vessels - cadet training ship INS Tir (A86), patrol vessel INS Sujata (P56), tank landing ship INS Shardul (L16), and offshore patrol vessel ICGS Sarathi arrived in the Port of Maputo on Tuesday.
The vessels are calling as part of the navy’s long-range training deployment across the Southwest Indian Ocean.
According to a statement released by the office of the Indian High Commission in Maputo the squadron includes almost 100 sea trainee cadets from the Indian Naval Academy, Ezhimala, where two officer cadets from Mozambique are also currently undergoing pre-commission training. The squadron is led by Captain Tijo K Joseph.
“The visit reflects India’s commitment to enhanced maritime partnership through joint training and capacity building guided by the vision of Security and Growth for All in the Region (Sagar),” the High Commission said.
“The Squadron will undertake various joint training activities along-with Mozambican Navy on aspects such as diving, fire-fighting, VBSS, navigation and communication. It will culminate with a PASSEX (Passage Exercise) and Joint Surveillance of Mozambique’s Exclusive Economic Zone,” it said.
Colonel Puneet Attri, Defence Adviser at the High Commission of India received the vessels. Senior naval officers are scheduled to make courtesy calls on Mozambican military and civil authorities.
Outreach initiatives over the four day call will include yoga sessions, community outreach, joint medical camps, visits of school children aboard, support of local orphanages and friendly sports fixtures to foster camaraderie and connection between the two countries.
The visit coincides with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the nations. The vessels also called at Seychelles, La Réunion, and Mauritius, where 1TS conducted similar exercises with navies and coast guards.
INS Tir is the senior vessel of the squadron and India’s first purpose-built cadet training vessel. It was commissioned in 1986 and based at Kochi under the Southern Naval Command. More than 1,200 Indian and foreign naval officers have trained aboard the ship. The vessel is equipped for navigation training, damage control, and seamanship drills.
The squadron departs Maputo on 19 September and will call at the ports of Nacala, Dar es Salaam and Male and is scheduled to return to Kochi in mid-October.
