New Delhi, Aug 9 (IANS): Indian Naval Ships Shivalik and Kadmatt reached Muara in Brunei on Monday as part of measures to enhance maritime cooperation with friendly countries in South East Asia, the Navy said.

During the stay at Muara, the crew of both the ships will participate in various bilateral professional interactions with the Royal Brunei Navy.

"The exercise will provide an opportunity to both the navies to enhance inter-operability, gain from best practices, and develop common understanding of procedures for maritime security Operations," the Indian Navy stated.

The harbour interactions and exercises at sea aim to consolidate the strong bond shared by the two navies and would be another step towards strengthening India-Brunei defence relations.

The bilateral exercise would conclude with a Passage Exercise with Royal Brunei Navy at sea on August 12.

Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic, all interactions and exercises will be conducted strictly as 'non-contact' activities and hence would be devoid of any physical contact between the personnel of participating navies.

Indian Navy Ships Shivalik and Kadmatt are the latest indigenously designed and built, multi-role Guided Missile Stealth Frigate, and Anti-Submarine Corvette respectively, and form part of the Indian Navy's Eastern Fleet based at Visakhapatnam under the Eastern Naval Command.

The two ships are equipped with a versatile array of weapons and sensors, can carry multi-role helicopters, and represent the maturation of India's warship-building capabilities.

On completion of bilateral exercise with the Royal Brunei Navy, the ships will head to Guam to participate in exercise MALABAR-21 with the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF), the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and the US Navy (USN).