The skipper of the vessel, Capt Shyam Sundar, visited Phuket Governor Maitree Intusut at Phuket Provincial Hall, along with Indian Ambassador Anil Wadhwa, and the Royal Thai Navy later hosted a dinner at the Radisson Blu Plaza Resort at Panwa Beach.
To commemorate 20 years of India-ASEAN partnership, ‘INS Sudarshini’ is on its historical six month ASEAN expedition which started from Kochi, India on 15 September 2012.
Sudarshini is retracing the sea routes developed during the 10th to 12th centuries, linking India with South East Asia, covering most of the modern and ancient ports in ASEAN countries.
The ship expedition was conceptualized to demonstrate India’s historical proximity with its ASEAN neighbors and to commemorate the longstanding ASEAN-India maritime and trade relationship.
The objective of the expedition is also to enhance people-to-people and naval links between India and the ASEAN nations. INS Sudarshini is a 'Sail Training Ship' built by the Goa Shipyard Ltd and was commissioned in 2011.
During the course of the 13,500 mile expedition of INS Sudarshini, as on date, ship has called on three Ports in India namely Kochi, Chennai and Port Blair and twelve ports in 8 ASEAN countries namely Padang, Bali, Manado, Brunei, Cebu, Manila, Da Nang, Sihanoukville, Bangkok, Singapore, Klang and Phuket.
After Phuket, Sudarshini will continue its homeward journey via Sitwe, Myanmar.