Iran, India to Stage Joint Naval Drill

Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Habibollah Sayyari said his forces are slated to hold a joint naval exercise with an Indian naval fleet in coming days.

Speaking to reporters in Tehran on Wednesday, Rear Admiral Sayyari pointed to an official visit to the southern Iranian port city of Bandar Abbas by an Indian flotilla of warships, saying that Iranian and Indian naval forces will hold the one-day joint drill in waters to the east of the Strait of Hormuz.

The Indian naval fleet comprising INS Ganga (F22), a Godavari-class guided-missile frigate, and INS Trikand (F51), a Talwar-class frigate of the Indian Navy, were officially received by the Iranian Navy in Bandar Abbas on Tuesday.

Speaking at the welcoming ceremony for the Indian fleet, Commander of Iran’s First Naval Zone Admiral Amir Hossein Azad said its visit to Bandar Abbas and the naval zone will last for four days.

The visit comes folloiwng Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to Iran to hold talks with senior Iranian officials on a range of issues, including ways to boost Tehran-New Delhi ties.

During his stay in Iran, Modi met with Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei and President Hassan Rouhani, and attended a ceremony in which a trilateral agreement was signed by Iran, India and Afghanistan on development of southeastern Iranian port city of Chabahar.