Indian navy ships arrive in Cambodia for friendship visit

Picture of the Indian ship, INS Jyoti which has just arrived in the Sihanoukville seaport.

Phnom Penh - Indian naval staff began a five-day goodwill visit to Cambodia, the governor of the south-western port city of Sihanoukville said Tuesday. He said the 180-metre long INS Jyoti, a replenishment vessel, and 92-metre long INS Kora arrived Monday and would embark on a series of exercises with Cambodia's navy during the visit.
Officers and crew would also spearhead a blood donation drive, visit orphanages and compete in a friendly volleyball tournament.
It is not the first visit of INS Jyoti, which first docked at the country's only deepwater port, 240 kilometres from the capital, on a similar mission in June 2006.
In November of that year, an Indian delegation visited to discuss specific areas of cooperation with the Cambodian navy including training, maintenance and repairs of artillery, tanks, trucks and demining equipment.
The Cambodian navy recently received several ships from China to bulk up its sea border patrol capacity, but remains under-equipped and under-trained compared to other regional navies after years of civil war and poverty. It has also received assistance and training from the US.
The Indian ships are due to depart Friday, Say Hak said.