Seychelles accords grand welcome to Indian Navy's Training Squadron ships

Victoria, Sep 2 (IANS) As the ships of the First Training Squadron (1TS) of the Indian Navy comprising INS Tir, INS Shardul, and CGS Sarathi docked at Port Victoria in Seychelles, the Charge d'Affaires of High Commission of India, along with senior officers of the First Training Squadron ships hosted an onboard reception on Tuesday which was also attended by the country's Chief of Defence Forces Major General Michael Rosette and Seychelles' Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism Sylvestre Radegonde,

"Cd'A of the High Commission of India along with Senior officer, 1st Training Squadron and Commanding Officers of 1st Training Squadron ships hosted a reception onboard the ships. Chief of Defence Forces Major General Michael Rosette, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism Sylvestre Radegonde, Minister of Internal Affairs Errol Fonseka and senior dignitaries from Government of Seychelles, members of diplomatic corps and Indian diaspora attended the event," Indian High Commission in Seychelles posted on X.

In the morning, the First Training Squadron ships organised a special onboard yoga session which saw participation from local people and members of Indian diaspora. The pictures shared by Indian High Commission in Seychelles showed people performing yoga on the ship.

On Monday, Commanding Officers of First Training Squadron ships called on Charge d'Affaires and presented him the crest of the visiting ship. Commanding Officers of the First Training Squadron ships met the Chief of Defence Forces, Major General Michael Rosette and Brigadier Jean Attala and discussed the ships participation in various activities during the operational turnaround.

The Commanding Officers of First Training Squadron ships had also called on Seychelles' Minister of Foreign Affairs and Tourism Sylvestre Radegonde and discussed maritime cooperation.

The ships of the First Training Squadron (1TS) of the Indian Navy are presently on long-range training deployment in the South West Indian Ocean Region.

"The arrival at port was marked with a ceremonial welcome by the Seychelles Defence Force (SDF) band, emphasising strong maritime ties between the two nations. The Indian Navy's ceremonial Guard and Band were paraded onboard 1TS with equal solidarity," the Ministry of Defence stated on Tuesday.

Professional exchanges, cross deck visits, and training interactions with SDF personnel are planned during the port call. As part of cultural exchanges and community engagement, yoga sessions, Naval Band performance, sports fixtures and social outreach programs are scheduled to take place during the port call, according to the press release.

"The deployment of 1TS to Seychelles is the third port call of Indian Navy ships to Seychelles in 2025. This highlights the Indian Navy's robust bilateral engagement and maritime partnership aligned with the broader vision of MAHASAGAR in IOR," the ministry highlighted.

--IANS

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