The Indian Navy today shared a tweet expressing ‘warm welcome’ to three naval ships from China. The Indian Navy’s official Twitter handle shared a Tweet that had pictures of the three warships from the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (Navy) or PLA-N.
#MaritimeDomainAwareness @indiannavy extends a warm welcome to the 29th Anti-Piracy Escort Force (APEF) of PLA(N) in Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Happy Hunting @SpokespersonMoD @DefenceMinIndia @IAF_MCC @adgpi @IndiaCoastGuard @IndianDiplomacy pic.twitter.com/7NTW4TwQuW
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) April 17, 2018
The Chinese ships were from China’s 29th Anti-Piracy Escort Force. It is notable here that China often deploys its warships as measures against piracy but the Chinese Navy is also notorious for their strategic deployments in the Asia Pacific and the Indian Ocean Region aimed at carrying out reconnaissance activities, establishing bases and deploying submarines.
The Indian Navy, through a simple welcoming tweet, has let China know that they have eyes and ears in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and they are watching them.
The Indian Navy followed the previous tweet with another tweet in which they uploaded a map of the vast area they are guarding constantly. The subtle message was clear, ‘we are watching your every move’.
#MissionBasedDeployments From Persian Gulf to Malacca Straits & from Northern Bay of Bengal to Southern Indian Ocean to East coast of Africa @indiannavy with 50 ships on vigil 24X7 keep our Area of Responsibility (AOR) safe. @indiannavy Anytime, Anywhere Everytime @nsitharaman pic.twitter.com/rxmBAed5Sa
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) April 17, 2018
The second tweet stated that in the entire IOR, from the Persian Gulf to the straight of Malacca and from Northern Bay of Bengal, southern ends of the Indian Ocean to the east coast of Africa, nothing escapes their watch. The Indian Navy has 50 combat ready warships on constant vigil over the entire IOR and they keep their Area of Responsibility (AOR) safe.