Article Posted on : - Aug 07, 2014

NEW DELHI (PTI): Indian naval warship INS Ranvijay on Wednesday entered the Sepanggar port in Malaysia on a three-day goodwill visit aimed at strengthening bilateral defence ties.

"This is the first-ever visit by an Indian naval warship to the port and it is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and enhancing inter-operability between the navies of the two friendly nations," said a Navy release.

During its time at Sepanggar, various activities involving the warship have been planned, including official calls and professional interaction between personnel of both navies.

INS Ranvijay is part of a three-warship fleet of the Navy on deployment for participation in the Indo-Russian bilateral naval exercise, INDRA, and the trilateral naval exercise MALABAR with the US Navy and Japanese Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) in the Sea of Japan.

The vessel, along with two others -- INS Shivalik and fleet tanker INS Shakti, a modern fleet tanker and support ship -- will return to India in mid-August after a two-month- long deployment.