Three Indian navy ships to pay five-day visit to Vietnam

Three Indian naval ships will be docking at Tien Sa Port in Da Nang from May 21 for a five-day visit to the central city, Da Nang's Department of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

The warships INS Sahyadri, INS Shakti and INS Kamorta will be carrying a total of 913 officers and sailors led by Rear Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet.

The visit is part of the deployment of the Indian Navy's Eastern Fleet to Southeast Asia and the northwestern Pacific.

During their stay, the crews will take part in cultural exchanges, play sports and hold a musical concert with officers from Vietnam's 3rd Naval Region.

The crews will also meet with the city's leaders and explore Da Nang, as well as the Hindu sanctuary My Son in the neighboring province of Quang Nam and attractions in the region's popular resort towns Hue and Hoi An.

On May 25, the crews will take part in a joint maritime exercise with their Vietnamese counterparts prior to their departure.

The INS Sahyadri is a Shivalik-class stealth multi-role frigate, while the INS Shakti is a Deepak-class fleet tanker and the INS Kamorta is an anti-submarine Kamorta-class stealth corvette.

The Vietnamese and Indian navies have been stepping up cooperation in recent years, especially in the fields of training, repair, maintenance and logistics support.

Indian naval ships visited Da Nang in June 2013 and October 2015, as well as Cam Ranh International Port in Khanh Hoa in May 2016 and Vietnam's northern port city of Hai Phong last September.

India's Minister of Defense is scheduled to visit Vietnam next month while Vietnamese army and navy leaders are expected to visit India later this year, according to local Tien Phong newspaper.