All Aboard the Indian Coast Guard Ships!!: A Visit to Kadmatt And Satpura in Manila's Pier 15

- October 4, 2017, Wednesday.

- Whenever something Indian comes my way, I usually try my best to grab the opportunity to experience anything Indian. This includes the 4-day visit of two Indian coast guard ships from Oct. 3 to Oct. 6. The Indian coast guard ships Kadmatt and Satpura dropped their anchors in Manila's Pier 15 as part of the ships' three-month trip across the ASEAN countries, as well as South Korea and Russia. Their visit to the ASEAN countries marks the 25th anniversary of India and ASEAN's bilateral relations. I think this is significant not only because they've have diplomatic relations for quarter of a century, but more importantly because it strengthens the foundation of the historical relations of India and Southeast Asia since ancient Asia (and yes, the Philippines was indeed indianized before the Spanish came - remember that!)

Kadmatt in front, and Satpura at the back.

The Indian flag or the "tiranga."

- Even though I teach history in the university, I am not the best person to talk about when it comes to weapons, war ships, tanks, guns, or canons; I actually hate talking about wars even though it's inevitable in my classes. They're just not part of my interests. Perhaps my Indian past life was urging me to go after I heard of the public viewing schedule, which is why I decided to go anyway (I am an Indian specialist after all.) It would be a good opportunity to mingle with Indians, and at least know a little bit about their advances in technology through the coast guard ships. Also, I felt a bit nostalgic since I had my first Indian coast guard ship visit in 2012; the ship was named "Samrat" (click here to see my "VIP" visit to Samrat with the former Indian ambassador.)

Hello. Please take me to India.

- I arrived at Pier 15 a bit past 3 in the afternoon; the visiting hours were from 3pm to 6pm. Thinking that I would probably be alone, it surprised me to see a bunch of other people (both Indians and non-Indians) who took interest in viewing the ships. Some visitors who went were enthusiasts of anything military-related. I was happy when they asked if I was a blogger since I don't usually have that "blogger vibe" like some of my friends who blog professionally, but they seemed disappointed when they found out that I wasn't the blogger they wanted to mingle with (whoops sorry.) They thought I also blogged about military stuff like the blogs that they read, but I said that I specialized in travel and culture.

- INS Kadmatt was commissioned in 2016 and functions as an anti-submarine warfare ship. It is commanded by Commanded Nithin Cariappa. The ship is named after Kadmatt Island of India's Lakshadweep Islands.

Yay for bilateral relations!!

At the bow(?) of the ship. Look at 'em guns!! Ratatatatatatatatat.

- Too bad, photography was not allowed inside both ships, but all I can tell you is that Kadmatt has an awesome helicopter inside - just like the one I saw inside Samrat in 2012. Since photography was only allowed outside, I was able to take photos of the front of the ship. It was quite daunting with all the guns. The people on the ship were quite accommodating, and since some of them had a bit of difficulty speaking English, I had to adjust by speaking in Hindi. As usual I was barraged with questions, like if I was Northeast Indian (people there look Chinese/Burmese because of Northeast India's proximity to Tibet and Myanmar) since I was wearing my Indian kurta and coat, with a necklace bearing the national emblem and colors of India, or how I learned to speak quite-decent Hindi. I was very glad they understood me, at least I was able to talk to them a bit more. I also got to help them out with their shopping queries (yes, they're given some time to go around the city when they're not on duty.)

Emblem of the ship. "Kadmatt: Nirvighnamoo Karomi" (Kadmatt: Remover of Obstacles.)

With some of the nice people on the ship.

- I later visited INS Satpura, which is a multipurpose stealth ship. I learned that stealth ships are the kind of ships that are supposed to be hard to detect by most forms of radar or sonar methods. They're also supposed to be harder to spot visually. Despire this, Satpura is actually bigger and heavier than Kadmatt. Its captain is Captain Rahul Shankar.

I like the effect of the light and the reflection.

My photoshoot photo of the day.

See the logo of the hsip in the middle and at the sides of the swimming ring.

Spot the not. 

This cardboard guy was just welcoming people to the ship. :)) :)) :)) :)) (There's another one just like him towards the rear of the ship.)

 - Satpura also does not fall short in terms artillery compared to Kadmatt. Satpura can do land attacks too!! Also, before coming to the Philippines, Satpura had a month-long journey across the Southern Indian Ocean without any port calls (i.e. it traveled nonstop without docking); this shows the great advancements in India's naval technology. Despite all these features, my favorite part of my visit to the ship was that there were free Indian biscuits and Indian tea at the bow of the ship (such a person I am, huhu.)

Yes, you're the best ship, Satpura. (Just please, don't shoot me.)

Not to be messed with.

See 'em guns!!

- I finally left the pier after my little afternoon "field trip" to the two ships. I learned a bit more about naval stuff through my small chats with the people on board; it was still nice to learn something new even if it wasn't something that would normally interest me. What I am most happy about - aside from the free biscuits and drinks - is that there are continuous efforts to strengthen the diplomatic ties between India and the Philippines. I just hope that this strengthening of ties will expand to and be more apparent in other sectors beyond military, politics, and business.