*New Delhi: *The Indian Navy on Tuesday tweeted a “warm welcome” to ChineseNavy Warships in the Indian Ocean, tongue firmly in cheek. “Happy hunting”,the navy said in two tweets that effectively asserted, with a dash ofhumour, its strong presence in the Indian Ocean and close tracking ofChinese vessels in the region.
The tweets were posted with photos of the Chinese anti-piracy vesselswhich, according to the website of China’s PLA or People’s Liberation Army,have 700 soldiers and two helicopters on board.
An official said the posts were a message that China’s moves are beingwatched.The Navy also said its 50 ships were on constant vigil to keep itsAOR (Area of Responsibility) safe. It tweeted a map to drive home theconstant surveillance of Indian warships in the region.
The warships left the Chinese port of Zhoushan on April 4 for the Gulf ofAden to carry out anti-piracy missions off the Somali coast. They enteredthe Indian Ocean through the straits of Ombai Wetar in Indonesia.
According to the navy, China has used anti-piracy patrols and freedom ofnavigation as the reasons for its increasing presence in the Indian Ocean.
Besides ships, the navy is amping up its surveillance using long-rangemaritime reconnaissance aircraft, the Boeing-made Poseidon 8I planes, whichfly sorties, sometimes up to the South China Sea, almost every day.