PM Modi expressed appreciation for the President of Bulgaria Radev, and conveyed India's satisfaction that the seven Bulgarian nationals were safe and would soon be returning home.
"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 back and since then we have put more ships there. We are investigating all suspicious vessels that have piracy triggers in this ong
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev expressed his gratitude for the Indian Navy after they successfully carried out a rescue operation on the hijacked Bulgarian ship, MV Ruen, on Monday.
"The Indian Navy warship INS Kolkata has taken 35 sea pirates into custody and is being brought to India along with the 17 crew members rescued after the major operation," officials said on Sunday.
The C-17 aircraft of the Indian Air Force executed a precision air-born drop of two boats along with Indian Navy MARCOS in the Arabian Sea in support of anti-piracy 'Operation Sankalp'.
The Indian Navy thwarted the piracy attempt on MV Ruen, which was under the control of Somalian pirates since last December, by safely evacuating 17 crew members and coercing 35 pirates to surrender.
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 Indian Navy said in an official statement.
The ex-MV Ruen, previously commandeered by Somali pirates on December 14, 2023, was reported to have reappeared as a pirate vessel, threatening merchant shipping in the high seas.
In yet another letter to the MVA (Maha Vikas Aghadi) leaders, former Lok Sabha MP Prakash Ambedkar, the grandson of Dr BR Ambedkar, expressed his desire to join the INDIA alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections 2024.
After the Shiv Sena (UBT) announced its candidate from the Mumbai's North-West Lok Sabha seat, Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam on Sunday said that no party in Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has a right to announce the names of the contestants from the disputed seats.