New Delhi, April 17: The Indian Navy has sent a strong message to China through its tweets on Tuesday. The navy conveyed message to China in a very subtle way. The Indian Navy has tweeted the photographs of Chinese warships patrolling in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) at the time when the Indian Air Force is conducting the latest leg of its war-time exercise ‘Gagan-Shakti 2018’ with Sukhoi-30 MKI and Jaguar fighter jets equipped with anti-ship ammunition flying over the region.

In the first tweet, The Indian Navy said, “#MaritimeDomainAwareness @indiannavy extends a warm welcome to the 29th Anti-Piracy Escort Force (APEF) of PLA(N) in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Happy Hunting.”

Just after half an hour later, the navy posted a map of IOR sating that the navy’s 50 combat-ready Indian warships were carrying out constant vigil on the area.

The 29th fleet from People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) left east China's port city Zhoushan for the Gulf of Aden to escort civilian ships by carry out anti-piracy vigils off the Somali Coast. According to People's Liberation Army (PLA), the fleet consists of 700 officers and soldiers, dozens of special operation soldiers, and two helicopters on board.

The Indian Navy for the first time taken to twitter to convey its message to China. The navy is keeping a close eye on the activities of Chinese Navy in the Indian Ocean Region. In October 2017, The Naval Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba gave his approval for the deployment of mission-ready warships and aircrafts in the IOR to effectively counter China’s aggression. China’s presence in the region increased after the Doklam Stand-off. During Maldives crisis in February, Chinese warships were seeing patrolling in the region.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 17, 2018 10:06 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).