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The visiting ships are part of the Indian Navy’s Western Naval Command and are based in Mumbai. The Task Group is headed by Rear Admiral RB Pandit, the Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, who is flying his flag on the indigenous guided missile destroyer, INS Mumbai.
The current visit seeks to underscore India’s peaceful presence and solidarity with friendly and like-minded countries towards ensuring good order in the maritime domain and to strengthen the existing bonds between India and Greece.
India and Greece are two of the world’s ancient civilisations with a long history of close contact. Building upon the rich and longstanding relations that have existed between India and Greece, both nations have developed warm relations in several spheres. A number of bilateral agreements for co-operation and cultural exchange exist between the two nations with the majority of them being signed in 2007 during the visit of President APJ Abdul Kalam. Trade between India and Greece remains vibrant with many Indian corporate houses having strong interests in Greece. A MoU for defence cooperation between India and Greece was signed in 1998. The Greek defence minister Pannos Kammenos visited India in December 2015 and held discussions with his Indian counterpart Manohar Parrikar, on various issues such as naval cooperation, training and regional security.
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Indian Naval assets have been increasingly deployed in recent times to address the main maritime concerns of the region, including piracy off the coast of Somalia. In addition, the Indian Navy has also been involved in assisting countries in the Indian Ocean Region with Hydrographic Survey, Search and Rescue, EEZ Surveillance and other such capacity-building and capability-enhancement activities. The current deployment in the Mediterranean Sea will contribute towards the Indian Navy’s efforts to consolidate inter operability and forge strong bonds of friendship across the seas.