India Increases Naval Deployment
The "Deccan Herald" of India quoted the Chief of Staff of the Indian Navy, R. Hari Kumar, as reporting that India has 11 submarines, 35 surface ships, and 5 patrol aircraft on duty in the surrounding waters to respond to the increasingly frequent activities of pirates and the Chinese navy in the Indian Ocean.
Kumar stated that India currently has 10 warships deployed on the west coast of India until commercial shipping is safe. The report pointed out that the rest of the warships are deployed in the Bay of Bengal and the southern Indian Ocean. It also quoted an unnamed senior navy official as saying that in terms of the number of submarines deployed by India, this may be the most in India's history.
The report pointed out that as many as 13 Chinese ships are sailing in the Indian Ocean, including 6 Chinese navy warships and 1 satellite tracking ship. Chinese submarines also pass through the Indian Ocean from time to time.
The 23rd was the 100th day of the Indian Navy's execution of the maritime security mission code-named "Operation Sankalp". The Indian Ministry of Defense also issued a press release, stating that during these 100 days, the Indian Navy handled 18 pirate incidents, saved more than 110 lives, escorted 1.5 million tons of critical cargo, carried out nearly 1,000 boarding missions, and seized more than 3,000 kilograms of drugs.
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