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The 11th India-Japan coast guard drill was conducted
in the Bay of Bengal. Indian Coast Guard vessel
Vishwast and Japanese ship Settsu participated
in the exercise and simulated a range of search-and-rescue,
pollution control and anti-piracy operations.
The drill which began Jan 29 with a pollution
response demonstration saw how coastguard personnel
on board a helicopter can contain an oil spill
of a sunken ship.
A vertical replenishment sortie, mail transfer
and search-and-rescue drill followed.
They also perfomed a dramatic anti-piracy operation
in which a hijacked ship was round off by hovercrafts
and commandos on a smaller boat before breaking
into the vessel in distress.
The exercise was held as a high level Japanese
delegation led by Admiral Hisayasu Suzuki, Commandant
of the Japan Coast Guard (JCG), was on a five-day
visit to India which also concluded Jan 30.
Indian Coast Guard Director General Vice-Admiral
M.P. Muralidharan and his Japanese counterpart
supervised the drill.
The visit was in pursuance of an agreement between
the two coast guards signed in 2006 that stipulates
that the heads of the two organizations meet alternately
in India and Japan.
They discussed "maritime issues of mutual
concerns and formulate a cooperative approach
to address these", a defence spokesperson
said in Delhi.
The agreement encompasses issues of maritime
search and rescue, combating marine pollution,
technical assistance for responding to natural
disasters and exchange of information regarding
crimes at sea, including smuggling and illicit
trafficking.
The first such exercise was carried out in November
2000 off Chennai, which laid the foundation for
development of close interaction between the two
organisations that included regular visits and
exercises, sharing of information and expertise
and training visits.
During the 11th high level meeting, the two sides
agreed to strengthen the cooperation on evolving
collaborative approach, in addressing a spectrum
of maritime issues concerning safety and security,
said the spokesperson.
"The visit was also very significant in
providing renewed impetus to strong ties that
exist between the two coast guards as the Japan
Coast Guard Ship has visited India, after a gap
of six years, for the combined exercises."
(IANS)
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