Bahraini naval forces could undergo intensive training in India next year.

Representatives of the Royal Bahrain Naval Force yesterday (October 17) met officials from India's Southern Naval Command (SNC), who are on a regional tour to Bahrain, Oman and the UAE to promote the International Fleet Review that will be held in India in February 2016 and is expected to attract around 60 countries, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

Three ships - Tir, Sujata and Tarangini - docked at Mina Salman yesterday and are part of the First Training Squadron based in Kochi which operates under the SNC.

They will take part in a joint drill with the Bahraini forces on Sunday before setting sail the following day.

"We believe that the visit is an opportunity to open up to the local force and there is a joint drill on Sunday between participants from both countries," said Indian Ambassador Dr Mohan Kumar.

"India is already taking part voluntarily in the high seas and the Indian Ocean against piracy besides having a vessel stationed in the Gulf of Aden.

"India's revenue from the Gulf annually is around $180 billion and most of it comes from the seas," he said.

He was speaking during a Press conference yesterday on board one of the ships, also attended by First Training Squadron in-charge Captain Vinay Kumar Sawhney and Defence Attache for the GCC region Captain Arjun Dev Nair.

Captain Sawhney said the squadron, which has a total of five ships, is dedicated to training naval personnel aged under 20.

"We have 24 intensive training courses for U-20 with two weeks abroad in the dedicated ships that are on a visit to Bahrain," he added.

Captain Nair said the visiting delegation has introduced Bahraini authorities to its interactive training programmes.

"We have verbally and orally invited Bahrain to our international event in February 2016 besides our programmes for next year," he said. "The visit of the training squadron from India will enable exchange of ideas with the Royal Bahrain Naval Force, with the aim of furthering bilateral training co-operation." - TradeArabia News Service