The Royal Navy warship HMS Spey made its inaugural visit to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, engaging in discussions with Indian Navy officials on maritime security challenges and priorities in the Bay of Bengal.
Royal Navy warship -- HMS Spey, made her inaugural visit Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Wednesday, following which the visitors and Indian Navy officials discussed maritime security challenges and priorities within the Bay of Bengal.
This is the second time that a Royal Navy warship has arrived in Indian waters in a year time. Prior to HMS Spey, HMS Tamar had arrived in January this year at Andaman and Nicobar. These two warships have been on permanent deployment in the Indo-Pacific region since September 2021.
Lt Cdr Bridget Macnae RN, HMS Spey’s Executive Officer (temporarily in Command) said: “Frequent port visits and multilateral exercises between the Indian Navy and Royal Navy continue to support our ever-expanding relationship and operational interaction and cooperation.”
“The UK and India firmly believe in, and promote the Rules Based International System; we share an interest in upholding international maritime law and supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific,” he said.
UK’s Defence Advisor to India, Brigadier Nick Sawyer said: “We deeply value our relationship with India in a shared endeavour to confront those who challenge the rules-based system and ensure peace and prosperity on and from the sea.”
“The sixth visit of Royal Navy ship to India within a year is the clearest demonstration of that as well as the UK’s Indo-Pacific tilt in action,” she said.
Upon her arrival in India, the HMS Spey warship conducted a maritime manoeuver exercise with an Indian Naval patrol vessel further developing operational interoperability between the two nations.
HMS Tamar became the first Royal Navy warship to visit the islands since HMS Montrose over 16 years ago.
It must be mentioned here that the UK is world renowned for its maritime awareness capability, leading on anti-piracy in the western Indian Ocean region. The UK has a 7x7 presence in the Western Indian Ocean Region, alongside its presence in India.
The India-UK White Shipping Agreement enables information sharing across the whole of the Indian Ocean Region. In June 2021, the UK posted its first permanent liaison officer at the Indian Navy’s Information Fusion Centre for Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in Gurugram to enhance maritime domain awareness in the region.