INS Godavari escorted the 12,000 tonnes Pakistani cargo-vessel Less than a month after a Pakistani warship created a tense moment for an Indian frigate in the high-seas, Indian Navy has provided a lesson in Gandhigiri by escorting a Pakistani merchant vessel through the pirate infested Gulf of Aden.Indian frigate INS Godavari escorted the 12,000 tonnes Pakistani cargo-vessel, MV Islamabad, with an all Pakistani crew of 38, from a port in Egypt to the United Arab Emirates, through the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) in the Gulf of Aden, last week.This is the first Pakistani-flag ship escorted by Indian Navy through the IRTC. Indian Navy is operating in the corridor since October, 2008. In the last three years, as many as 1708 ships have been escorted by Indian Navy. This included more than hundred Chinese and Hong Kong flag ships, sources said. Close encounterIn June this year, during the rescue operations for MV Suez, a Panama-flag vessel with Indian crew, which was released by the pirates, a Pakistani warship PNS Babur came tantalizingly close to Indian frigate Godavari, violating sea norms and damaging the frigate's helicopter nets."The Pakistani ship came much closer to our ship than what was prudent to damage ...
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