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MENAFN- Live Mint) "Following the successful mission of the Indian warship INS Kolkata, which led to the surrender of all 35 pirates aboard the pirate ship MV Ruen, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that India is“committed” to safeguarding the freedom of navigation and combating piracy and terrorism in the Indian Ocean region Modi responded to a post by President Rumen Radev of Bulgaria Rumen Radev. In a post on X, Radev wrote,“My sincere gratitude to PM Narendra Modi for the brave action of Indian Navy rescuing the hijacked Bulgarian ship“Ruen” and its crew, including 7 Bulgarian citizens.”Reposting the post, PM Modi said,“Appreciate your message President PresidentOfBg. We are happy that 7 Bulgarian nationals are safe and will be returning home soon. India is committed to protecting freedom of navigation and combating piracy and terrorism in the Indian Ocean region.”Also Read: Indian Navy thwarts Somali Pirates' hijacking attempt; intercepts ex-MV Ruen | Watch VideoOn Saturday, the Indian Air Force's C-17 aircraft conducted a precise airborne drop of two boats, accompanied by Indian Navy MARCOS, in the Arabian Sea to support the ongoing anti-piracy mission, 'Operation Sankalp'.Earlier, responding to Bulgarian Foreign Minister, Mariya Gabriel for thanking the Indian Navy for rescuing seven Bulgarian nationals in a successful anti-piracy operation in the Arabian Sea, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that it is exactly what friends are for a post on X, Jaishankar wrote, \"That's what friends are for,\" alongside Gabriel's post to X, the Bulgarian Foreign Minister said,“I express my gratitude to the Indian navy for the successful operation to rescue the hijacked vessel Ruen &its crew members, including 7 BG nationals Thank you for support &great effort. We continue to work together to protect lives of the crew.”Meanwhile, as reported by ANI, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said that the exercise was part of an ongoing anti-piracy operation since 2008 and piracy suddenly increased some months ago Read: How Indian Navy's warship, drones, aircraft, and MARCOs forced Somali pirates to surrender?“It has been an ongoing operation for a long time. Since 2008, we have had a presence in anti-piracy operations. Piracy suddenly resurfaced around 3-4 months ago, and since then we have put more ships there. We are investigating all suspicious vessels that have piracy triggers in this ongoing operation,” Admiral Hari Kumar told ANI Indian Navy said in an official statement that the Indian warship INS Kolkata successfully cornered and coerced all 35 pirates to surrender on Saturday, ensuring the safe evacuation of 17 crew members from the pirate vessel without any injury the rescue operation, which lasted for the last 40 hours, INS Kolkata intercepted the under-attack pirate ship“Ruen”, sailing almost 2600 km from the shores of the Indian Coast, and forced the pirate ship to stop through calibrated actions the operation to safely rescue the crew members and gain control of the distressed vessel, support was provided by various assets including the Indian warship INS Subhadra, High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) drones, P8I maritime patrol aircraft, and MARCOS (Marine Commandos) PRAHARs which were airdropped by C-17 aircraft, the vessel underwent a sanitization process to check for the presence of illegal arms, ammunition, and contraband after the operation.(With inputs from agencies)
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