The Indian government has also deputed Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kolkata, the lead ship of the three Kolkata Class destroyers

The Indian government has deputed a high-level delegation to participate in the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference (Dimdex 2018), which begins Monday at the Qatar National Convention Centre.

This comes within the framework of "deep-rooted friendly ties and multi-faceted and growing co-operation between India and Qatar", the Indian embassy in Qatar has said in a statement.

The Indian delegation is led by Vice Admiral Girish Luthra, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy, and includes additional director-general VSR Murthy of the Indian Coast Guard and other senior officials. 

The Indian government has also deputed Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kolkata, the lead ship of the three Kolkata Class destroyers and among the largest indigenous destroyers to be operated by the Indian Navy. It was developed at Mazagon Dockyard Shipyard, Mumbai.

The Kolkata Class ships have been conceived and designed by the Indian Navy’s Directorate of Naval Design. 

The INS Kolkata has a compliment of 30 officers and 330 other personnel under the command of Captain Susheel Menon.

The vessel has an overall length of 164m, displaces about 7,500 tonnes and is capable of achieving a speed in excess of 30 knots (approximately 55 km/h). 

The ship is based in Mumbai, as part of the Western Fleet under the administrative and operational control of the Western Naval Command.

This deployment of INS Kolkata marks the second time in the last four months that an Indian ship is visiting Qatar. Indian Coast Guard ship Samarth had visited Hamad Port in November 2017 and participated in the first-ever India-Qatar Joint Passage Exercise with the Qatari Coast Guard. 

The visit of the high-level delegation and INS Kolkata for Dimdex 2018 will "further strengthen the historic friendship between India and Qatar, and defence co-operation between the two countries", the statement adds.