Four Indian Navy ships indigenously built Guided Missile Stealth Frigate Shivalik, Guided Missile Destroyer Rana, Guided Missile Corvette Karmuk & versatile Fleet Tanker Shakti under the command of Rear Admiral Ajit Kumar P., Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet visited Shanghai for a port call from June 13-17, 2012. The ships were also made port calls at Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, Republic of Korea & Japan to enhance Navy to Navy cooperation and fortify bridges of friendship. The ships were welcomed at Shanghai Cruise International Port Terminal by Commander of Shanghai Naval Garrison Rear Admiral Gu Xiangping & Read Admiral Shen Hao of China’s Eastern Sea Fleet at Ningbo.

The visit of Indian naval ships to Shanghai one of the most important events to celebrate year 2012 having been declared as the ‘Year of India-China Friendship & Cooperation’. The presence of Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Anil Chopra during the visit of these ships to Shanghai also underlined the importance Indian Navy attaches to its bilateral relations with PLA Navy. The Indian naval ships conducted Passage exercises with PLA Navy to enhance interoperability to strengthen cooperation in the maritime domain.

During their stay in Shanghai, the Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet along with other officers paid courtesy call on high ranking officials of PLA Navy and State Administration. A large number of Shanghai civilians, school children & members of Indian community visited these naval ships during this period. A 30-member group from Jiaxing city in Zhejiang province comprising officials from Foreign Affairs Office of Jiaxing Municipality, Jiaxing Economic and Technological Development Zone, Bureau of Investment and Chinese employees of Indian companies also paid a visit to the ships. Additionally a performance by Indian Navy Band at the base of Shanghai Oriental Pearl TV Tower enthralled the large audience which had gathered on the occasion.

Ships arriving in  Shanghai

Welcome on arrival

Vice Admiral Anil Chopra addressing press conference aboard INS Shivalik

School Children visiting INS Shivalik

School Children presenting a drawing made on the spot to Indian Navy personne

PLA Navy personnel visiting the ships

IN Band performing at Pearl TV Tower

People dancing to the tunes of IN Band

Civilians visiting IN Ships

Children visiting ships