NEW DELHI: Carrying out its long range deployment, the Indian Navy's indigenous stealth frigate INS Sahyadri made a port call at Kemaman port in Malaysia as part of the Eastern Fleet Operational Deployment to the South China Sea and Indo-Pacific.
The Navy on Sunday said, the port call was on 02 Oct 2025, "The ship was accorded a warm welcome by the Royal Malaysian Navy, celebrating enduring cultural ties and shared maritime traditions between the two nations."
This is the third visit by INS Sahyadri to Malaysia. The ship had earlier visited Port Klang on a goodwill mission in 2016, and later participated in Exercise Samudra Laksamana at Kota Kinabalu in 2019. These visits underscore the strong and evolving naval ties between the two countries.
"INS Sahyadri's ongoing operational deployment to the South China Sea and Indo-Pacific, underscores India's stature as a responsible maritime stakeholder and preferred security partner in the Indo-Pacific," said the Navy.
The ship's port call at Kemaman is aimed at further strengthening India-Malaysia maritime military cooperation, interoperability between the two navies and exchanging best naval practices, the Navy added.
The three-day visit included courtesy calls by the Ship's Commanding Officer on senior Royal Malaysian Navy officers, including a call on First Admiral Abd Halim bin Kamarudin, Deputy Commander Naval Region.
The visit also featured professional exchanges, cross visits by Indian Navy and RMN officials, cross-training, sport fixtures between the two navies, as well as recreational visits to the city for INS Sahyadri's crew.
The crew also conducted a yoga session and charity event, reflecting the Indian Navy's commitment to wellness, compassion, and strengthening India-Malaysia friendship.
India and Malaysia share a rich and multi-dimensional relationship, shaped by deep-rooted cultural, social and economic ties, spanning millennia. With the ever increasing significance of the Indo-Pacific in the geopolitical seascape, both nations have increasingly recognised the importance of building regional partnerships, based on mutual interest.
India's MAHASAGAR initiative and Malaysia's alignment with ASEAN's Outlook on Indo-Pacific (AOIP), offer prosperity for both nations through maritime synergy.
The navy-to-navy interactions between India and Malaysia have grown steadily over the years through the biennial LIMA exhibition and MILAN exercises. The successful culmination of the third edition of Field Training Exercise (FTX) - ' Samudra Laksmana ' in 2024 between Indian Navy and RMN ships, underscores the commitment of both nations towards bolstering maritime security and cooperation in the region.
This port call to Malaysia follows Indian Navy's milestone exercise in the area as it successfully achieved maiden mating with foreign submarines in South China Sea (SCS) during XPR-25 (Exercise Pacific Reach-2025) conducting a full spectrum of Intervention and Rescue Operations. Three successful mates including ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) operations over three days showcased our growing global rescue capabilities.
It was a display of capability and teamwork with international maritime forces, the Indian Navy carried out its first mating exercise with foreign submarines away from Indian shores.
As reported earlier by TNIE, the exercise took place in the South China Sea, an area marked by tensions over contested maritime boundaries, including islands and exclusive economic zones.
Notably, China has been asserting its claims based on what it calls historical rights, and is currently in a standoff with US-backed Philippine naval vessels.
Meanwhile, the Philippines is asserting its claim over the Second Thomas Shoal, which China strongly resists. China claims most of the South China Sea, while the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan hold counterclaims.