Indian survey ship in PH after longest-ever voyage

The crew and officers of INS Sandhayak pose for a photo during its port visit in Manila on Friday, August 1, 2025. PHOTO JOHN ERIC MENDOZA

MANILA, Philippines — India’s first locally-built survey ship conducted its longest ever voyage before arriving in the country amid the regional power’s policy to bolster its influence in the region.

INS Sandhayak conducted a port visit in Manila for the first time since it was commissioned in 2024.

“This is the first time this ship has come in this part of the world,” said Nattuva Dheeraj, captain of the INS Sandhayak, in an interview with reporters aboard the ship on Friday.

No survey in West PH Sea

Sandhayak said the ship could not conduct any survey in the West Philippine Sea, citing United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea rules.

“We cannot conduct any survey,” Nattuva said. “We are only here to enhance our existing cooperation.”

Nattuva expressed hopes that Manila and Delhi would conduct such joint surveys in each other’s waters in the future.

Instead, INS Sandhayak will go to Subic Bay to learn from their Filipino counterparts, according to him.

West PH Sea patrols

Nattuva also said the ship will not join in the upcoming maritime cooperative activity in the West Philippine Sea.

Indian Navy’s guided missile destroyer INS (Indian Naval Ship) Delhi, anti-submarine warfare corvette INS Kiltan, and fleet tanker INS Shakti will join the West Philippine Sea drills next week.

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief General Romeo Brawner Jr. said the maritime cooperation activity was agreed upon after his meeting with his Indian counterpart General Anil Chauhan last March.

“He allowed it right away…and four months after, we’re here,” Brawner said in an interview on Wednesday.

International relations expert Don Mclain Gill said such activities are well in line with India’s “broader Indo-Pacific vision” and its Act East Policy.

The Act East Policy is an Indian geopolitical tack that aims to bolster its standing as a regional power by cultivating extensive economic and strategic relations with Southeast Asian countries like the Philippines.

“Of course being two like-minded countries in Asia, that share a common threat but also at the same time common principles and ideals towards upholding democracy and international law, we see this as a continuation of existing efforts to bolster the growing Philippine-India partnership and hopefully towards an elevation of bilateral ties,” Gill, lecturer at the De La Salle University’s Department of International Studies, told Inquirer on July 23.

READ: Marcos to seek more maritime cooperation with India in his state visit

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is set to visit India on August 4-8 upon the invitation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

 Brawner said Marcos’ visit is expected to yield “strategic agreements.”

“It is very important that our state leaders have strategic dialogue that would strengthen our partnership,” he said.

Gill also said: “We are also likely to see more efforts in exploring ways where India can take part in the modernization of the Philippine military.”

BrahMos

The country has acquired its medium-range supersonic cruise missile from India called “BrahMos.”

BrahMos, a portmanteau of the river names Brahmaputra of India and Moskva of Russia, has a range of 290 to 400 kilometers that could travel at Mach 2.8, or about three times faster than the speed of sound.

Brawner said that two more sets of BrahMos systems will arrive “in the next few years”.  /das /gsg