On Sunday, the Indian coastguard ship Samrat docked at Tien Sa Port to begin a 5-day friendship visit to Da Nang.  This is Samrat’s 2^nd visit to Viet Nam, and the 4^th by an Indian coastguard vessel.

The ship Samrat

On Monday, municipal People’s Committee Vice Chairman Dang Viet Dung warmly received a group of the ship’s naval officers, led by Major General DS Saini.

Vice Chairman Dung remarked that Da Nang is now focusing on promoting the development of such local spearhead economic sectors as tourism, logistics and hi-tech industries, in addition to developing local healthcare and education.  Over recent years, India has seen numerous positive results from bilateral cooperation with Viet Nam, and with Da Nang in particular with respect to economics, culture and exchanges of delegations.

The host said he hoped that, during their stay in the city, the Indian crew members would share with their Vietnamese coastguard counterparts their useful and practical experiences in ensuring national maritime security and conducting law enforcement missions at sea.

In reply, Major General DS Saini said that this was the first time he had personally visited Da Nang, and he was very deeply impressed by the city’s modern development.  He noted that the Vietnamese and Indian governments have already entered a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on conducting search and rescue, anti-piracy, and anti-pollution activities.

He also remarked that the Vietnamese and Indian coastguard forces would conduct experience exchanges in order to ensure national maritime security in accordance with the signed agreement.

Samrat, which has a displacement of 2,577 tonnes, is 105m long and 12.9m wide.