OPERATION SANKALP

About: 

• The Indian Navy has launched Operation Sankalp in the Persian Gulf/Gulf of Oman to re-assure Indian flagged vessels transiting through the area following the recent maritime incidents in the region.
  • INS Chennai and INS Sunayna have been deployed in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf to undertake maritime security operations.
    
    
  • While the INS Chennai is a destroyer, the INS Sunayna is an offshore patrol vessel.
    
    
  
  
  
• The Information Fusion Centre-Indian Ocean Region, which was inaugurated by the Navy in December 2018 at Gurgaon, was also monitoring the movement of ships in the Gulf region.
  
  
• The move was announced after US President Donald Trump declared that “Iran made a very big mistake” by shooting down a US surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz. Before that, the US blamed Iran for the attacks on the oil tankers, a charge denied by Tehran.
  
  
• India’s strategic and security interests are closely linked to the Indian Ocean Region. The country’s energy security is also linked to the safety and security of ships while operating and transiting in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf.