PORT KLANG, March 12 – The Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN) lauded the Indian navy’s efforts to assist in the Search and Rescue (SAR) operations for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370. RMN assistant chief of staff operations and exercises,
Rear-Admiral Datuk Mior Rosdi Mior Mohd Jaafar said the Indian forces were continuously in touch with the RMN ever since the plane disappeared, and fully rendered all possible help towards operations in the SAR for the Beijing-bound Boeing 777-200ER aircraft that vanished on March 8, 2014 with 239 passengers and crew on board.
“This is a testimony of the close maritime friendship we have between India and Malaysia over the years,” he told Bernama when met after attending a dinner on board the Indian navy ship, ‘INS Kesari’ at the Port Klang Cruise Centre, here Wednesday night.
Indian High Commissioner to Malaysia T.S.Tirumurti also attended the dinner. ‘INS Kesari’ is one of four Indian naval ships which docked at Port Klang on Tuesday for a four-day visit to Malaysia together with ‘INS Tir’, ‘INS Varuna’, and ‘INS Sudarshini’ as part of its overseas deployment training for 137 sea trainees in areas concerning seamanship, navigation and ship handling.
These ships from the First Training Squadron are the only ships of Indian Navy and Coast Guard where intensive practical sea training of 24 weeks is conducted for under trainee officers.On another note, Mior Rosdi said the joint naval exercises conducted between India and Malaysia has enabled both countries to learn from each other’s expertise by jointly conducting drills and exercises at sea.
He noted that the Indian navy has been a regular participant at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA) in Malaysia and added that INS Kamorta, India’s first indigenously-built stealth anti-submarine warfare, will participate in this year’s exhibition from March 17 to 21.
Meanwhile, the senior officer of the First Training Squadron of the Indian Navy (INS), Captain Sivaram R. Ayyan in his speech at the dinner said he hoped such visits will foster cultural understanding and relations among the Indian Navy and the Malaysian Navy.
– BERNAMA
