India’s INS Kochi, a ‘Kolkata class’ 8000-ton destroyer naval ship carried out her 2-day operational turnaround at Safaga naval base, Egypt from the 28th to the 30th of June 2022. The ship participated in PASSEX & had close collaboration with the Egyptian Navy.
During the ship’s visit, Rear Admiral Sameer Saxena, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF), along with Captain Himadri Bose, Commanding Officer, INS Kochi, called on Rear Admiral Mohamed Nabil Ibrahim Ahmed, Base Commander of Safaga Naval Base, Egyptian Navy. His Excellency Mr. Ajit Gupte, Ambassador of India to Egypt, also met Rear Admiral Sameer Saxena, FOCWF onboard INS Kochi.
Indian Navy and Egyptian Navy personnel engaged in a friendly football match at the Red Sea Navy Base, where Rear Admiral Mohammed Nabil Ibrahim Ahmed, was the Chief Guest. Personnel from both Indian as well as Egyptian navies also carried out ship visits.
The ship’s visit is a significant part of the ongoing deepened defence exchanges between India and Egypt. His Excellency, Mr. Ajit Gupte also said that since the decline of the Coronavirus pandemic, a renewed push in the bilateral exchanges between India and Egypt has been observed with a number of delegations from India visiting Egypt and vice versa over the last two years.
India and Egypt share an important bilateral relationship and the defence sector has emerged as one of the focus areas with an increasing number of bilateral engagements. Thus, both the countries, jointly undertake various activities in the fields of training, joint exercises, ships and aircraft transits, defence exhibitions, etc. together.
INS Kochi also participated in a Maritime Partnership Exercise with the Egyptian Navy ships ENS Al Zubair and ENS Abu Ubadah (Lurssen Class Offshore Patrol Boats) on the 30th of June, 2022. The exercise included Visit Board Search and Seizure (VBSS) drills, communication exercises, flag hoist drills and operational manoeuvres including ceremonial steampast.
India and Egypt are enhancing their bilateral partnership with more focus on defence and security aspects. India and Egypt are now collaborating with each other across all spectrums of their bilateral relations which are based on a sound historical and traditional relationship.
