INS Sharda, a patrol ship of the Indian Navy, has reached the Maldives on Thursday to mark the conclusion of a joint maritime exercise that the Maldives National Defense Force and Indian Coastguard are holding in the Indian Ocean. 

In a tweet on Thursday, the Maldives’s defense forces informed about the arrival of the ship and said she will leave the Maldives on Monday after the conclusion of the joint exercise. The two countries conduct routine joint military exercises, including DOSTI – which was held for the first time back in 1991.

Later in 2012, it became a trilateral exercise with Sri Lanka also joining Maldives and India. 

(SAM)