INS Sahyadri & Kolkata arrive at Papua New Guinea to boost ties

Indian Navy ships INS Sahyadri and INS Kolkata, deployed in the Eastern Indian Ocean, reached Port Moresby on 2 August 2023 to strengthen maritime partnership and cooperation with South East Asian country Papua New Guinea.

During the port call, the crew of both the ships were involved in a wide range of activities including professional interaction with Papua New Guinea (PNG) Defense Forces personnel, cultural exchange, yoga sessions and ship visits.

• The objective of this port call is to strengthen the relations between India and Papua New Guinea in the maritime domain.

• INS Sahyadri is the third ship of the indigenously designed and built Project-17 class multirole stealth frigates.

• INS Kolkata is the first ship of the indigenously designed and built Project-15A class destroyer.

• Both the ships have been built at Mazagon Dock Limited, Mumbai and are fitted with modern weapons and sensors capable of countering three dimensional threats.

• In May 2023, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the island nation after attending the G7 Hiroshima Summit 2023. This country is very important from a strategic point of view for India.

Papua New Guinea: 

• It is an independent island nation in the Pacific Ocean near Indonesia, a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean region.

• Capital: Port Moresby

• Currency: Kina

• Prime Minister: James Marape