Four warships of the Indian Navy arrived in Greece today for a three-day goodwill visit meant to enhance cooperation and understanding between the Indian Navy and the Hellenic Navy.

Defense cooperation between India and Greece extends back decades and a Memorandum of Understanding to this effect was signed in 1998.

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The Indian Navy Task Group belongs to the Western Fleet, the navy's most powerful, with headquarters in Mumbai.

The Task Group under the command of Rear Admiral R.B. Pandit, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet, consists of the INS Mumbai (D62), a Delhi-class guided-missile destroyer; INS Trishul (F43) and INS Tarkash (F50), both of which are Talwar-class frigates and the INS Aditya (A59), an Aditya-class replenishment and repair ship.

The Task Group is visiting Greece as part of the Indian Navy's overseas deployment to the Mediterranean Sea and the West Coast of Africa. The Indian Navy said the deployment of the Task Group to the Mediterranean Sea will contribute towards its efforts to consolidate inter operability and forge strong bonds of friendship across the seas.

The deployment also underscores India's focus on peace and solidarity with friendly and like-minded countries that seek to ensure freedom of the seas.

Sailors from the Indian Navy and the Hellenic Navy will engage in professional interactions, as well as in sports and social engagements. The Indian Navy noted India and Greece are two ancient civilizations with a long history of close contact.

The three surface combatants in the Task Force are among the most modern in the Indian Navy. INS Mumbai, which was commissioned in 2001, was involved in an operation to evacuate Indian citizens from Yemen in 2015.

Her armament is mostly Russian made and her main offensive weapons system is the SS-N-25 anti-ship missile also known as the Kh-35 Switchblade. On the other hand, her air defense system relies on the Israeli Barak surface-to-air missile (SAM).

The Talwar-class frigates INS Trishul and INS Tarkash have semi-stealth features and are among the most modern in the navy. Derived from the Russian Krivak-class frigates, the Talwars are very heavily armed.

They mount 24 launchers for Shtil-1 medium range missiles, the naval version of the infamous Buk missile system that shot down Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine in 2014. It carries eight Klub anti-ship missiles stored in a vertical launching system.