Singh said India has intensified patrolling of the seas after the recent attacks on merchant navy ships.
An Indian Navy warship on Monday successfully repulsed a pirate attack on a United States-owned tanker in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia coast. MT Nordik Spirit, the tanker owned by the Nordik Shipping Company, was sailing in the Gulf of Aden at approximately 3 pm when the pirates made an attempt to hijack it and fired at the crew members. The warship flew out its helicopters with marine commandos and on seeing it, the pirates gave up their hijack attempt on the tanker.
The Indian Navy has deployed task groups comprising frontline destroyers and frigates in the central and north Arabian Sea and augmented its force levels in the region to undertake maritime security operations in view of recent attacks on commercial vessels in key shipping lanes.
With its operations to crackdown pirates in the Gulf of Aden meeting with success this week, India today said it was considering augmenting naval assets to fight the threat to peaceful commercial shipping in the region.
"The government on Thursday approved deployment of Indian naval warships in Gulf of Aden to patrol the normal route followed by Indian flagships during passage between Salalah in Oman and Aden in Yemen," a defence ministry spokesperson announced in Delhi.
In a major development, INS Godavari has successfully foiled a piracy attempt on Greek ship MV Elinakos in the Gulf of Aden, a navy statement said on Tuesday.
The hijacked Japanese merchant ship released with 18 Indian sailors on board today headed towards Mumbai and is being escorted by US-led coalition forces to safe waters from the danger zone in the Gulf of Aden.
Indian Navy's elite marine commandos on Friday rescued 21 crew members including 15 Indians from a bulk carrier in the North Arabian Sea and sanitised it in a swift operation while responding to an attempted hijacking of the Liberian-flagged vessel by around five-six armed personnel.
Defence Minister A K Antony ruled out any plans for offensive action against Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden despite an increase in piracy- related incidents.
The unexpected missile attack on a second India-bound ship carrying Russian crude, just three weeks after the first, has complicated matters for domestic refiners. India now counts the Vladimir Putin-led nation as its biggest oil supplier, according to Paris-based market intelligence agency Kpler, and these attacks come on top of US sanctions since December, where vessels that bring crude to India are facing heightened scrutiny. Panama-registered Pollux, which loaded crude at the Sheshkaris oil terminal in the Russian port of Novorossiysk on January 24, was scheduled to deliver the medium, sour Urals grade to Paradip port on February 28.
A week after it guarded 13 merchant vessels from piracy attack, an Indian warship has once again warded off an attempt by sea brigands on nine cargo ships including an Indian vessel off the Yemeni coast in Gulf of Aden.
Reports claiming that Chinese warships had engaged in a standoff with an Indian submarine in the Gulf of Aden, which appeared on major Chinese Web sites last week, were false.
India on Wednesday, rubbished reports that China's warships on anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden caught an ndian Navy submarine snooping on it in the international waters.
Somali pirates are "shifting their location" towards India, but the country is watchful to deal with such threats, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said.
The deployment seems to be more than what is needed.
With India rushing its warship to Gulf of Aden after pirates attacked cargo ships carrying its nationals, the US says it is keen to partner with New Delhi to jointly patrol the high seas off the African coast to deter the armed outlaws. "The Indian ships presence in Gulf of Aden will provide both of us an opportunity to work together (against pirates) and we are looking forward to it," said US Navy Captain Kenneth J Norton on board USS Ronald Reagan.
An Indian Navy ship has thwarted a pirate attack on a merchant vessel with 10 Indian crew members in the Gulf of Aden.
In a strong display of its prowess in the global fight against the menace of piracy threatening maritime trade near Horn of Africa, Indian Navy's guided missile destroyer INS Mysore repulsed the pirate attack on Ethiopian flag-bearing MV Gibe that was sailing 150 nautical miles off Aden in Yemen around noon, a Navy spokesperson said in New Delhi.
The attack on the Norwegian-owned merchant vessel -- M V Maud, flying the Liberian flag -- took place about 225 nautical miles east of Aden around 1300 hours on Thursday, the sources said.
Indian Naval Ship Sukanya, deployed on anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden under the operational control of the Western Naval Command, thwarted a multiple-boat attack by pirates on Thursday and rescued 26 Somali crewmembers.
'India should respect Maldivian nationalism and their desire to be not over-dependent on India.' 'India should not behave like a big brother towards Maldives as many times, we tend to behave like that.'
When questioned about the absence of any mention of the Indian Navy's role in the operation, Hua said China's ministry of defence should be approached for details.
Around 350 stranded Indians were evacuated on Wednesday from strife-torn Yemen's Aden city on an Indian Naval ship that will now take them to Djibouti, a country neighbouring Yemen and across the Red Sea.
Suspected pirates on Thursday attempted to hijack an Indian ship in the Gulf of Aden, but were apprehended by a United States missile cruiser, which 'quickly' responded to the merchant vessel's distress call. The Indian-flagged Motor Vessel Premdivya sent a distress call reporting that she had been fired by a small skiff and suspected pirates were attempting to board it. The guided missile cruiser Vella Gulf intercepted the call and navy copter signaled for the skiff to stop
An Indian national, believed to have been injured in a bomb blast in Yemen's Aden, has succumbed to his injuries, defence sources said on Friday.
The country's first indigenously designed and built warship Godavari will be decommissioned on Wednesday in Mumbai, thirty-two years after it was commissioned into the Indian Navy.
Jinan, a Luyang II-class missile destroyer of the Chinese navy, on Monday docked at Mumbai harbour on a stopover while on an anti-piracy mission on the Gulf of Aden.
In a boost for the country's surveillance capabilities to monitor activities of both military warships and merchant shipping in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), the 'Sindhu Netra' satellite developed by a team of young scientists from Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was successfully deployed in space on Sunday.
Twenty five Indian crew members and their vessel were rescued from pirates in the Gulf of Aden by a European warship operating there last week. The EUNAVFOR warship FGS Berlin had launched a rescue mission after receiving a distress call from an Indian flagged merchant vessel on February 28 by sending a chopper there.
"Yes, we met Shipping Minister G K Vasan, and he assured us that he would do something. Pirates have threatened to kill our children if nothing is done till November 3O. So, we have decided that till they (government) decide to get them released, we will not go from here," mother of Mehtab, one of the hostages, said.
India and France agreed to intensify their cooperation in defence sector, particularly in the field of anti-piracy and maritime security and expected to finalise soon a deal for upgrading IAF's Mirage-2000 fighter aircraft.
A French Navy has rescued eleven Indian sailors from suspected pirates at the mouth of the Gulf of Aden. According to a media release of the Embassy of France in New Delhi, the rescue operation took place on January 18 off the coast of Oman.
Union Minister for Shipping G K Vasan on Saturday said the government was committed to safely bring back the 39 seafarers, held captive by Somalian pirates.
Days after the brush off incident between their warships in the Gulf of Aden, Indian Navy on Friday said Pakistani ship PNS Babur had damaged a part of INS Godavari by moving too close to it.
The Navy on Thursday pulled out its warship from escorting MV Suez, released by pirates, towards Salalah port in Oman after the Egyptian vessel, under the command of a Pakistani national, did not respond to its calls.
With the revision of the HRA, which was extended to include the west coast of India in 2010, some of the country's maritime security concerns like floating armouries and proliferation of private security are likely to be addressed, the Navy said.
Somali and Yemeni pirates' attempt to hijack for ransom Indian cargo vessels sailing off the Somalia coast has once again been thwarted by an Indian warship.
The government on Thursday said it was making all possible effort to seek the early release of 64 Indians held hostage by Somali pirates, including six on board an Egyptian cargo ship hijacked in the Gulf of Aden, in August last year. "I share the anxiety and concerns of the family members and we are making all efforts to ensure the safety of Indians and also to expedite their release," Shipping Minister G K Vasan said.
A week after seizing eight Indian vessels with about 100 sailors on board, Somalian pirates have released one of the boats along with 15 people on board.
Swift intervention by a Malaysian naval helicopter on Thursday saved an Indian vessel from a hijack bid by armed pirates dressed in military attire in the Gulf of Aden region, off Somalia.
