Indian Naval Ship INS Shardul, a ship of the First Training Squadron of the Indian Navy (IN) is visiting Port Louis, Mauritius from March 10 to 13 as part of an overseas deployment to Southern Indian Ocean nations. The ship will undertake EEZ surveillance of Mauritius, in coordination with Mauritian National Coast Guard as part of the deployment, and will also participate in the National Day celebrations of Mauritius on Friday during the port call.
The visit by the Indian Navy ship to Mauritius on the occasion of its National Day celebrations highlights the close relations and strong friendship between the two countries and is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and enhancing maritime security cooperation between the two countries.
Indigenously built at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Kolkata and commissioned in the Indian Navy in 2007, INS Shardul is an amphibious warfare ship capable of carrying battle tanks, troops and an integral helicopter. The ship has also played an important role in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations in the recent past. Notable among these include delivery of 600 Tons of food grains to drought hit Madagascar in March 2020 and operation Samudra Setu for evacuation of overseas Indians in June 2020 during Covid-19 pandemic.
In order to counter the Chinese influence in the Indian Ocean, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had last month signed two defence pacts with Maldives and Mauritius — each with a strong maritime dimension.
In Mauritius, Jaishankar had announced a $100 million Defence Line of Credit which would “enable the procurement of defence assets from India” according to the requirements of the country which was emerging as an important maritime entity in the Indo-Pacific region.
“These initiatives underline once again that the security of Mauritius is the security of India; in the prosperity of Mauritius is our prosperity,” Jaishankar had said. Under the terms of the loan, Mauritius would get a Dornier aircraft and an Advanced Light Helicopter Dhruv on lease, to bolster its maritime security capabilities.
