Two ships of the Indian Navy will dock at ports in New Zealand for four days starting August 31, 2023, in a first such visit since 2016.
The arrival of INS Kolkata and INS Sahyadri will strengthen defence cooperation between the two countries, Indian High Commissioner Neeta Bhushan said in a press statement.
“Two Indian Naval ships will visit New Zealand on a goodwill visit…INS Sahyadri will be visiting Wellington and INS Kolkata will be visiting Auckland on August 31, 2023.”
INS Sahyadri is an indigenously-built, Shivalik-class multi-role frigate. The ship was commissioned by the Indian Navy in 2012.
Named after the Sahyadri mountain ranges in India, it is capable of conducting anti-air warfare, anti-submarine warfare, and anti-surface warfare, owing to its advanced weapons and sensors.
INS Kolkata is a guided-missile destroyer and is the lead ship of the Kolkata class of destroyers, which are the largest and most advanced destroyers built in India.
The ship was commissioned by the navy in 2014, and it is capable of carrying out anti-air warfare, anti-surface warfare, and anti-submarine warfare.
Officials say the arrival of India’s naval vessels is a culmination of efforts by Wellington and New Delhi to enhance cooperation across the political, business and defence sectors over the last year, including high-level visits by the two sides signalling a deepening of relations.
Bhushan describes the visit as historic. “This [visit by the ships] is reflective of the fact that our bonds are getting closer and deeper across sectors, especially in the sphere of defence,” she says.
The naval visit comes just days after a high-level delegation from the Indian foreign ministry, led by Secretary (East) Saurabh Kumar, visited Aotearoa for the fifth Foreign Office Consultations (FOC) between the two countries.
Other bilateral visits made by delegates from the two countries include mutual visits by the foreign ministers. “The visit of Dr. Subhramanyam Jaishankar, the External Affairs Minister of India to New Zealand in October 2022 was followed by the visit of Nanaia Mahuta, the New Zealand foreign minister, to India in February 2023.
“Most recently, our two prime ministers met in Port Moresby on the sidelines of the FIPIC III summit,” Bhushan says.
Delegates from the Indian defence sector have also visited New Zealand over the last year, including Admiral R Hari Kumar, Chief of the Naval Staff of the Indian Navy, and a White Shipping Agreement was signed during his visit.
A delegation from National Defence College of India, led by Lieutenant-General Sukriti Singh Dahiya, also visited New Zealand earlier this year, and reportedly had productive discussions with defence officials.
Other vessels from the Indian Navy that have earlier visited New Zealand include INS Mumbai and INS Jyoti, which docked in Wellington in 2001.
INS Tabar arrived in Auckland in 2006, INS Sumitra in 2016, and the Indian Naval Sailing Vessel Tarini docked in Christchurch in 2017.