Jaishankar addresses Bulgarian minister on daring naval action: What is the purpose of friends

Jaishankar responded to the Bulgarian Foreign Minister’s gratitude to the Indian Navy. (document)

New Delhi:

Reacting to Bulgarian Foreign Minister Maria Gabriel’s gratitude to the Indian Navy for rescuing seven Bulgarian nationals during a successful anti-piracy operation in the Arabian Sea, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said this is exactly what a friend does.

“This is what friends are for,” Jaishankar wrote in a post on X.

That’s what friends are for.@rajnathsingh@indiannavyhttps://t.co/WGlYVzQEZA

–PhD. S. Jaishankar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrSJaishankar) March 17, 2024

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Maria Gabriel on Sunday expressed gratitude to the Indian Navy for its successful rescue operation to regain control of a hijacked merchant ship and its 17 crew members, including seven Bulgarian nationals, in the Arabian Sea.

She thanked the Indian Navy for its support and reiterated its cooperation to protect the lives of the sailors.

C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force, along with MARCOS of the Indian Navy, on Saturday conducted a precision airborne mission against two ships in the Arabian Sea in support of the ongoing anti-piracy Operation Sankalp.

The operation was to rescue the crew of the bulk carrier “MV Ruen” which was recently hijacked by Somali pirates near Socotra Island in Yemen.

The Indian Navy successfully evacuated 17 crew members and forced 35 pirates to surrender, thwarting an attempted piracy attempt on the MV Ruen, which had been controlled by Somali pirates since December last year.

The mission was carried out by the aircraft carrier INS Kolkata on Saturday, the Indian Navy said in a statement.

“Calcutta is a mission deployed in the Arabian Sea. Through sustained high-tempo operations, it intercepted the pirate ship MV Ruen on March 16, thwarting the plot of Somali pirates to hijack ships transiting the area. It was hijacked in December 2023 and has been has been under the control of Somali pirates,” the statement read.

Earlier, the Navy reported that the Indian warship “Calcutta” successfully forced all 35 pirates to surrender, ensuring the safe evacuation of 17 crew members on the pirate ship and no one was injured.

In a rescue operation that lasted 40 hours, INS Kolkata intercepted the attacked pirate ship MV Ruen nearly 2,600 kilometers off the Indian coastline.