Japanese training ships in Mumbai

Japanese training ships Kashima, Shimayuki and Matsuyuki are on a six-day visit to Mumbai. The ships are on an overseas training cruise and will be visiting 14 countries in the Indian Ocean Region. The ships arrived in Mumbai on June 21 and will leave on June 26.

Captain Manohar Nambiar (Chief PRO-Indian Defence) said that commander of Japan training squadron Rear Admiral Hidetoshi Fuchinoue, is the senior officer present afloat. "The ships are on overseas training cruise among other visiting countries," said Nambiar.

He said, "Both Navies share converging views on the maritime areas of anti-piracy, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, information sharing, amphibious warfare training and submarine rescue operations. Japan has also been an important trade partner and a supportive friend of India in the world forums."

Officials said on the sidelines of the visit, Rear Admiral Fuchinoue along with Akitaka Saiki, ambassador of Japan at New Delhi interacted with the commander-in-chief, Western Indian Naval Command.

In addition, various cultural, social, sports activities were organised for the visiting Japanese ships.