Korea Coast Guards chief praises Indian counterpart

New Delhi: In a rare gesture, South Korea’s Coast Guards Commissioner General has written a piece commemorating the retirement of his Indian counterpart Rajendra Singh.

Director General Indian Coast Guard Mr Singh is retiring on June 30.

“The relations between Indian Coast Guards (ICG) and the Korea Coast Guards have made tremendous strides in the recent past and stand out as a strong pillar of India-Korea security relations. The onus of these friendly relations, which have deepened in the last few years go to a great extent to Director General Rajendra Singh, who has significantly contributed in developing and nurturing relations between the two Coast Guards,” said Cho Hyun Bai, Commissioner General of Korea Coast Guards (KCG).

He noted that ICG and KCG share strong connection at sea. “Both organisations realised the importance of co-operation and signed an MoU in March 2006 to work jointly and assist each other in tackling transnational crime, render assistance to each other’s flagged vessel in distress and exchange intelligence and expertise,” said Mr Cho.

He said that since then, ICG and KCG have held 10 rounds of High Level meetings, conducted seven joint exercises. “Both coast guards are actively participating in each other’s training and educational programs.

In particular, KCG has been inviting ICG officers every year to participate in Coast Guard Capacity Building Program that is hosted and fully funded by KCG to afford a good learning opportunity. At sea, we have benefited from our partnerships,” said Mr Cho.