Sailors aboard INS Tarkash .File photo  

Indian Navy’s Talwar class frigate INS Tarkash carried out a “greeting and training” exercise on Sunday with the U.S. Navy’s Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group (TRCSG) which was until now involved in operations against the Islamic State in the Arabian Gulf.

INS Tarkash sailed in formation with aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt , guided-missile destroyer USS Preble (DDG 88) and other ships on March 25 as part of the exercise, the U.S. Embassy said here in a statement.

During the exercise, personnel from both sides “practised working together and strengthened their crews’ ship handling,” the embassy said. “Exercises included drills in communications and navigating in several close formations,” it said.

“This exercise offered a unique opportunity to further our capabilities to operate with and learn from one another,” Commander Allen Maxwell Jr., Commanding Officer of USS Preble , which is part of the TRCGS, was quoted as saying.

Ten Indian sailors toured spaces aboard Preble such as a combat information centre, a central control station and the bridge, while 10 Preble sailors visited Tarkash , the statement said.

USS Preble is currently deployed to the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations with the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt , the flagship of Carrier Strike Group 9, along with the guided-missile cruiser USS Bunker Hill , and guided-missile destroyers USS Halsey , USS Higgins and USS Sampson .

The TRCSG will now be in the U.S. 7th Fleet area responsible for counter-piracy, freedom of navigation operations and training.