Port Louis. INS Shardul, a ship of the First Training Squadron of the Indian Navy (IN) has been visiting Port Louis, Mauritius from March 10 to 13 as part of an overseas deployment to Southern Indian Ocean nations.

The ship will undertake EEZ surveillance of Mauritius, in coordination with Mauritian National Coast Guard as part of the deployment. This visit also marks the commemoration of National Day celebrations of Mauritius on March 12.

The visit by the Indian Navy ship to Mauritius on the occasion of its National Day celebrations highlights the close relations and strong friendship between the two countries, and is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties and enhancing maritime security cooperation between the two countries.

Indigenously built at Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Kolkata and commissioned in the Indian Navy in 2007, INS Shardul is an amphibious warfare ship capable of carrying battle tanks, troops and an integral helicopter.

The ship has also played an important role in Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations in the recent past. Notable among these include delivery of 600 tonnes of food grains to drought hit Madagascar in March 2020 and operation Samudra Setu for evacuation of overseas Indians in June 2020 during COVID-19 pandemic.