<p>New Delhi: Days after the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force carried out a daring 40-hour long operation in the Arabian Sea, <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/world/indian-navy-warships-force-35-somali-pirates-to-surrender-free-17-crew-members-2940112">capturing 35 Somalian pirates and freeing 17 crew members of a commercial ship</a>, the USA thanked India for the continued anti-piracy operations in one of the world’s busiest sea trade corridors.</p><p>“Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a telephonic conversation with the US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin who appreciated the important role being played by the Indian Navy in conducting anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean Region,” a defence ministry spokesperson said here.</p><p>This comes in the wake of last week’s coordinated action by the armed forces to take control of MV Ruen – hijacked in December by the Somali pirates, who converted them into a mother ship – which is now being brought to India along with its 37,800 tonnes of cargo. The pirates will be tried as per the law.</p>.Somali forces, foreign navies prepare attack on hijacked ship: Police .<p>The operation involved dropping of rubber boats and marine commandos near MV Ruen from an IAF C-17 aircraft following which the commandos boarded the ship and forced the pirates to surrender. The air-drop happened after the pirates opened fire on INS Kolkata and shot down a naval UAV.</p><p>Sources said securing MV Ruen was critical as other commercial ships transiting through the area were not aware of the fact that the carrier had been converted into a mother ship by the pirates to launch their operations.</p><p>Since December, there has been an increase in the piracy attempts in the Arabian Sea after a gap of almost 7-8 years. This has happened because of the Red Sea crisis, forcing most of the naval vessels deployed in the area to turn their attention to trouble torn areas.</p>.<p>Singh and Austin, who met last time in November 2023 also discussed key issues on repair of US naval ships in Indian shipyards. They also reviewed the bilateral tri-service humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise Tiger Triumph that commenced at Visakhapatnam on Monday.</p><p>The US Navy ship USS Somerset and onboard troops from the Marine Corps will take part in the two-week long drill.</p><p>“The exercise is aimed at developing interoperability for conducting HADR operations and refine Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to enable rapid and smooth coordination between forces of both countries,” said a navy official.</p>
<p>New Delhi: Days after the Indian Navy and Indian Air Force carried out a daring 40-hour long operation in the Arabian Sea, <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/world/indian-navy-warships-force-35-somali-pirates-to-surrender-free-17-crew-members-2940112">capturing 35 Somalian pirates and freeing 17 crew members of a commercial ship</a>, the USA thanked India for the continued anti-piracy operations in one of the world’s busiest sea trade corridors.</p><p>“Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a telephonic conversation with the US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin who appreciated the important role being played by the Indian Navy in conducting anti-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean Region,” a defence ministry spokesperson said here.</p><p>This comes in the wake of last week’s coordinated action by the armed forces to take control of MV Ruen – hijacked in December by the Somali pirates, who converted them into a mother ship – which is now being brought to India along with its 37,800 tonnes of cargo. The pirates will be tried as per the law.</p>.Somali forces, foreign navies prepare attack on hijacked ship: Police .<p>The operation involved dropping of rubber boats and marine commandos near MV Ruen from an IAF C-17 aircraft following which the commandos boarded the ship and forced the pirates to surrender. The air-drop happened after the pirates opened fire on INS Kolkata and shot down a naval UAV.</p><p>Sources said securing MV Ruen was critical as other commercial ships transiting through the area were not aware of the fact that the carrier had been converted into a mother ship by the pirates to launch their operations.</p><p>Since December, there has been an increase in the piracy attempts in the Arabian Sea after a gap of almost 7-8 years. This has happened because of the Red Sea crisis, forcing most of the naval vessels deployed in the area to turn their attention to trouble torn areas.</p>.<p>Singh and Austin, who met last time in November 2023 also discussed key issues on repair of US naval ships in Indian shipyards. They also reviewed the bilateral tri-service humanitarian assistance and disaster relief exercise Tiger Triumph that commenced at Visakhapatnam on Monday.</p><p>The US Navy ship USS Somerset and onboard troops from the Marine Corps will take part in the two-week long drill.</p><p>“The exercise is aimed at developing interoperability for conducting HADR operations and refine Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to enable rapid and smooth coordination between forces of both countries,” said a navy official.</p>
