NEW DELHI – Indian navy put out a tweet, along with photos of Chinesewarships, welcoming the People’s Liberation Army Navy to the IOR.

The Indian Navy, on its official Twitter handle tweeted,“#MaritimeDomainAwareness @indiannavy extends a warm welcome to the 29thAnti-Piracy Escort Force (APEF) of PLA(N) in Indian Ocean Region (IOR).Happy Hunting.”

The task force left the Chinese port of Zhoushan on April 4 for the Gulf ofAden to carry out anti-piracy missions off the Somali coast. It consists of“700 officers and soldiers, dozens of special operation soldiers, and twohelicopters on board,” according to a report on the PLA’s official website.

Deployment of Chinese naval units in the IOR is closely monitored by thenavy, but it is perhaps the first time that the latter has taken to Twitterto drive home the message.

In a second tweet half an hour later, the navy put out a map of the IORreinforcing how a fleet of 50 combat-ready Indian warships was carrying outround-the-clock surveillance of the area.

“#MissionBasedDeployments From Persian Gulf to Malacca Straits & fromNorthern Bay of Bengal to Southern Indian Ocean to East coast of Africa@indiannavy with 50 ships on vigil 24X7 keep our Area of Responsibility(AOR) safe… Anytime, Anywhere Everytime,” the navy tweeted.