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INS Tarkash & INS Subhadra to Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Posted on: May 22, 2023 | Back | Print

Embassy of India
Riyadh

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Press Release

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Republic of India have embarked on a well charted journey towards enhancing the bilateral relations in multifarious fields to include energy, trade, infrastructure development, medical research, people to people exchanges, defence cooperation and security. India-Saudi Arabia bilateral relations have witnessed unprecedented growth in the last few years, driven by the dynamic leadership’s of Hon’ble Prime Minister of India Shri. Narendra  Modi and His Royal Highness Crown Prince and Prime Minister of Saudi Arabia Mohammed Bin Salman. Furthermore, both our countries are closely working together on intra-regional and international platforms including GCC and G20.

There has been significant progress under the Strategic Partnership Council (SPC) agreement signed, in 2019, during the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Saudi Arabia. Great cooperation between India and Saudi Arabia was witnessed during Sudan evacuation operations wherein Indian Air Force planes and Navy ships were provided all assistance by the Saudi side.

The bilateral defence engagements have seen a noticeable upswing in the recent past with an increased frequency of Indian Naval ship visits and Air force aircraft facilitated with active support of the Kingdom.  Defence relations constitute a significant element of our shared strategic vision for the region and the first bilateral Naval Exercise conducted in August 2021 is a testimony to our strong ties with the Kingdom. These Naval engagements assist in promoting understanding and furthering inter-operability between the two friendly Navies.

Now the second edition of the bilateral naval exercise is being conducted between Indian Navy and Royal Saudi Naval Forces in the Arabian Gulf. 

INS TARKASH and INS SUBHADRA arrived at Jubail port on 21 May 2023 to participate in the Indo-Saudi Bilateral Naval Exercise ‘Al-Mohed Al-Hindi’. Captains of IN Ships and Defence Attache with H.E Commander of Eastern Fleet, Royal Saudi Naval Forces interacted and discussed various aspects of India-Saudi Defence cooperation. On the same day, Indian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia along with Captain of IN ships had an interaction with H.E, Dr Fadi Al Fayadh, acting CEO of Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu in his office. Dr Suhel Ajaz Khan, Ambassador of India to Saudi Arabia also visited the ships and interacted with the crew and briefed on various training and operational activities. An on-board reception was organised on 21 May evening by the visiting Indian Navy ships and Embassy of India for the Saudi Officials, Diplomats, Defence Attaches and Indian Expat community.  The event had a small cultural programme followed by an overview about the Indian Navy and activities of the training ships. 

On 22 May, Various School children from Indian Schools at Dammam and Jubal visited the IN ships where they were shown the various on-board equipment’s and given a brief into the life of a sailor. 

School children’s were sensitized on the importance of marine ecosystems and sustainability as part of the G-20 mega beach clean-up campaign. Training Interaction between personnel of Royal Saudi Naval forces and IN crew was carried out as part of the Harbour Phase of the bilateral exercise. A visit was undertaken to King Fahd Naval Academy to understand the training curriculum and also prepare for the frothing exercise.  

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Riyadh
22 May 2023