During the three-day Philippines visit of Indian Coast Guard Ship Samudra Paheredar, the Pollution Response Vessel had a special visitor on-board – India’s External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar, who is also on a bilateral visit to the Southeast Asian nation.

Addressing the ICG Officials, dignitaries and diplomats on-board the Indian ship, Dr. Jaishankar mentioned that the ship’s visit to Manila and his own bilateral visit, in their own way signify the deepening India-Philippines partnership.

The ICG vessel’s visit to the Southeast Asian nation is part of a broader initiative to demonstrate the force’s Marine Pollution Response capabilities and bolstering bilateral cooperation with the Philippine Coast Guard.

From Philippines, the ICG vessel would be proceeding to Vietnam and Brunei, in line with the India-ASEAN initiative announced by the Indian Defence Minister in the ASEAN Defence Minister Plus Meeting, Cambodia, in the year 2022. The ship is equipped with specialised marine pollution control equipment and Chetak Helicopter in Pollution Response configuration, designed to contain, recover spilled oil and augment the operation. The demonstration at visiting ports include Pollution Response training and practical display of various equipment.

This deployment to ASEAN nations is the third such by the ICG’s vessels, as the Pollution Response ship has also visited Cambodia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Indonesia, in 2023.  

Additionally, the ship has also embarked 25 National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadets to participate in the Indian Government’s “Puneet Sagar Abhiyan” (Clean Ocean Mission) and provide it an international outreach in coordination with partner nations. As part of an overseas exchange programme, the NCC cadets, in coordination with ICG ship crew, partner agencies’ personnel, Indian Embassy/ Mission staff and local youth organisations will undertake beach cleanup and similar activities during the port call of the ship.

Speaking of the ties between the Indian and Philippines Coast Guard, Dr. Jaishankar said that the two agencies had signed a pact on enhanced Maritime Cooperation in 2023, India had hosted the Philippines Coast Guard Commander, India is offering specialised training to Philippines Coast Guard personnel. He added that India valued Philippines’ presence in Search and Rescue, Pollution response exercises. 

Elaborating on the shared challenges for the Indian and Philippines Coast Guard, the Minister referred to – Illegal, Unreported, Unregulated (IUU)fishing, combating marine pollution and protecting the marine environment. He added that like-minded countries in the region must be doing more. 

The ICG ship’s overseas deployment to three nations – Philippines, Vietnam and Brunei, would involve professional exchanges, cross-deck visits, joint exercises, as well as official and social engagements including visits to capacity-building facilities.