The Indian Coast Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard cutter ship Stratton held a joint exercise on Friday morning off the Chennai coast, during the latter’s maiden visit to India.
Indian Coast Guard ships ICGS Shaurya , ICGS Abheek and a Chetak helicopter were part of the joint exercise that focused on drills on anti-piracy operations, search and rescue (SAR), law enforcement, fire fighting at sea and joint helicopter exercises before the Stratton docked at the Chennai port.
The U.S. Coast Guard ship was welcomed by 60 students of Sindhi Model Higher Secondary School, Purasawalkam with the ceremonial band playing marshal music. Deputy Inspector General Sanjeev Dewan, TM, Commander Coast Guard District No. 5 (TN) along with officials from the Indian Coast Guard, U.S. consulate welcomed the officers on board the ship. The ship will be in Chennai till August 27.
An ongoing dialogue
“The whole purpose of our visit is to build on an ongoing dialogue between the U.S. and Indian Navies and Coast Guards. U.S-India diplomatic relationship is at an all-time high and we want to establish a deeper relationship,” Bob Little, Captain of the USCGCStratton , told reporters. “The Indian Coast Guard’s professionalism was on display today. We didn’t have time to plan the exercise…we coordinated via email and telephone,” he added.
Over the next two days, the Coast Guards will have information exchange and professional development sessions at the port, especially on law enforcement, transnational terrorism and counter-narcotics.
