DAMMAM — Prince Saud Bin Naif, governor of Eastern Region, received at his office here Wednesday the Indian Ambassador Dr. Ausaf Sayeed and his accompanying delegation. During the reception, they discussed issues of mutual interest.

On Wednesday, Ambassador Dr. Sayeed, accompanied by Real Admiral Ajay Kochhar, flag officer commanding Western Fleet, Indian Navy, Capt. Sachin R. Sequeira, commanding officer of INS Kochi, Deputy Chief of Mission Shri N. Ram Prasad and Defense Attaché Col. Gurtej Singh Grewal called on the governor and briefed him about growing India-Saudi bilateral relations, including in defense and maritime realm.

INS Kochi arrived at Port Al Jubail on Monday and was warmly received by officials of Royal Saudi Naval Force, Border Guards and the Indian Embassy. It will be participating in the first bilateral Naval Exercise “Al Mohed Al Hindi 2021” at the Jubail port.

India and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia enjoy a close, multi-faceted and strategic partnership covering wide areas such as energy security, trade and economic cooperation, investments, infrastructure development, cultural cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, besides security and defense cooperation.

The bilateral defense partnership has seen a noticeable upswing in the recent past with increased exchange of high-level visits and expanded military training programs. The two countries have a robust defense cooperation mechanism in the form of Joint Committee on Defense Cooperation (JCDC) as envisaged in the MOU on Defense signed between both countries in February 2014.

The Naval Exercise, which comes as a follow up to the maiden visit of Indian Chief of Army Staff Gen. M.M. Naravane to the Kingdom in December 2020, is aimed at promoting understanding and furthering interoperability between the two Navies.

On the first day of the visit Rear Admiral Kochhar interacted with Rear Admiral Majid Al Qahtani, Eastern Fleet Commander, Royal Saudi Naval Forces and other senior Saudi officials. The Indian Navy officers also visited the Eastern Fleet headquarters and the King Fahd Naval Academy.

Indian Naval ships have been increasingly deployed in the region in the recent times on diverse missions varying from safeguarding India’s maritime trade, conducting anti-piracy and anti-narcotic operations, carrying out EEZ surveillance, conducting Hydrographic surveys, carrying out humanitarian and rescue missions and imparting training to naval officers of friendly countries.

India has maintained robust partnerships with countries across the globe, including those in Asia, Africa and in the Indian Ocean region in an effort to enhance cooperation and understanding between important navies of the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). India is in favor of promoting collective security of regions and building economic capabilities for our partners, which is the essence of India’s Maritime Doctrine — 'SAGAR' (Security and Growth for All in the Region) which was formulated in March 2015.

The sea phase of the exercise will be commencing from Thursday wherein a number of sea exercises and maneuvers are planned. — SPA/SG