MUMBAI (PTI): A warship of the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force (JMSDF) arrived Tuesday on a three-day visit to Mumbai, where its crew will take part in a slew of events.

The naval ship, ‘Amagiri’, is commanded by Capt Koji Saito and accompanied by a delegation.

It is on a three-day visit to Mumbai and the Japanese officials on board the ship called on their counterparts from the Western Naval Command (WNC), the Indian Navy said in a statement.

The WNC is headquartered in Mumbai.

The delegation will also visit the INS Kochi, the indigenous guided missile destroyer of the Western Fleet.

Professional, sports and social events and interactions have been planned for the crew of the JMSDF ship during the tour, it stated.

"Both navies share converging views on the maritime areas of freedom of navigation in the South China sea, anti-piracy, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief and information sharing. Japan has also been an important trade partner and a supportive friend of India," the statement said.

During the visit, Capt Saito and Cdr Michiaki Mori (CO Amagiri) are scheduled to call on Rear Admiral R B Pandit, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, and other senior officers of the WNC.

A similar delegation from the Japan Coast Guard, headed by Superintendent Katsuhiko Sugiyama, Commanding Officer, Somalia Dispatch Investigation Team, on Tuesday visited the headquarters of the Coast Guard Region (West) here.

The delegation called on Inspector General K R Nautiyal, Commander, Coast Guard Region (W), and interacted with other officers from the Indian Coast Guard (ICG).

The delegation is part of the crew on-board Amagiri which is visiting Mumbai after an anti-piracy patrol in the Gulf of Aden, the ICG said in a separate statement.

The ICG has a high-level of coordination with its Japanese counterpart since 1999 and 14 joint exercises have been conducted between the two maritime security agencies till date, it said.

As part of interaction between the two maritime nations, a Japanese Coast Guard ship is also participating in a search and rescue exercise (SAREX) being conducted by the ICG off the Chennai coast on January 17-18, it added.