Red Sea drone attack: Will find attackers even from depths of seas, says Rajnath Singh

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh. Pic/PTI

Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that India has intensified patrolling of the seas after the recent attacks on merchant navy ships in Red Sea.

Speaking after the commissioning of stealth guided missile destroyer INS Imphal, Singh said that the Indian government has taken serious cognisance of the recent attacks on merchant navy ships MV Chem Pluto and MV Sai Baba, adding that it will take strict action against those behind the attacks by finding them even from the "depths of seas".

"The Indian government has taken the drone attack on MV Chem Pluto and attack on MV Saibaba in the Red Sea seriously. We will find those who executed the recent attacks on merchant navy ships even from the depths of the seas and take strict action against them," Singh said.

MV Chem Pluto with 21 Indian crew members, was struck by a drone about 217 nautical miles from Porbandar on Saturday following which both the Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard deployed a number of assets to provide assistance to the ship.

A Gabon-flagged commercial crude oil tanker with 25 Indian crew members reportedly came under a drone attack in the Southern Red Sea. Indian officials later clarified that the commercial oil tanker was not an Indian-flagged vessel.

The Indian Navy has deployed INS Mormugao, INS Kochi, and INS Kolkata to various areas as a precautionary measure, given the recent incidents in the Arabian Sea. An Explosive Ordnance Disposal team has conducted a preliminary assessment of the vessel, and further forensic and technical analysis will be needed to determine the attack's specifics.

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Meanwhile, the Indian Navy Tuesday ceremonially commissioned the Stealth Guided Missile Destroyer Imphal into its fleet in Mumbai.

The event witnessed the presence of Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, and Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar.

The commissioning marks the formal inclusion of the Imphal, the third of the 'Visakhapatnam' class destroyers, into the Navy, newswire PTI reported.

Designed indigenously by the navy's in-house organization, the Warship Design Bureau, and constructed by the defence PSU Mazagon Dock Limited in Mumbai, the Imphal possesses the capability to launch extended-range supersonic BrahMos missiles.

Notably, it is the first warship named after a city from the northeast, according to Vice Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief, Western Naval Command.

Having successfully completed a rigorous and comprehensive trial program, both in harbor and at sea, INS Imphal was officially delivered to the Indian Navy on October 20. (With inputs from agencies)