US Secretary of Defence appreciates ‘important role’ played by Indian Navy in anti-piracy operations
| 2024-03-18
An anti-piracy operation by the Indian Navy on March 15-16, 2024 led to the surrender of 35 Somali pirates in the Arabian Sea.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria thanks Indian Navy for rescuing its nationals from ship captured by Somali pirates
With India displaying its prowess in ensuring maritime security through numerous interventions in recent months, US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin has appreciated the important role being played by the Indian Navy in conducting anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean Region.
The statement came during a telephonic conversation with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday (March 18, 2024), barely two days after an unprecedented anti-piracy operation by the Indian Navy led to the surrender of all 35 Somali pirates who had captured ex-MV Ruen on December 14, 2023. The 17 crew members, including seven Bulgarian nationals, were evacuated safely.
The operation was carried out nearly 1,400 nautical miles (2,600 km) from the Indian coastline and the Indian Air Force (IAF) also played an important role.
The Bulgarian government has thanked the Indian Navy for rescuing its nationals.
"I express my gratitude to the Indian navy for the successful operation to rescue the hijacked vessel Ruen & its crew members, including 7 BG nationals Thank you for support & great effort. We continue to work together to protect lives of the crew," she said on social media platform X.
"That's what friends are for," External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in response.
India & US Review Defence Cooperation
Meanwhile, during their conversation, Defence Minister Singh and US Defence Secretary Austin briefly discussed a range of bilateral, regional security and defence cooperation issues, the Ministry of Defence said.
They reviewed the recent bilateral events such as the INDUS-X Summit held in New Delhi in February 2024, and the bilateral Tri-Service exercise ‘Tiger Triumph’ which commenced in India on March 18, 2024.
According to the Ministry of Defence, the two ministers discussed ways and means to implement the India-US Defence Cooperation Roadmap which was concluded last year. Other defence industrial cooperation issues such as repair of US naval ships in Indian shipyards were also briefly discussed.
Both the ministers had last met in New Delhi in November 2023 during the India-US Ministerial 2+2 Dialogue.
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