A day after Bulgaria thanked India for rescuing the hijacked vessel MV Ruen, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said the country was committed to protecting freedom of navigation and combating piracy and terrorism in the Indian Ocean region.
"We are happy that seven Bulgarian nationals are safe and will be returning home soon," PM Modi tweeted.
On Monday, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev thanked PM Modi after the Indian Navy rescued seven Bulgarians who were part of a crew that was held hostage by pirates aboard the MV Ruen, which was hijacked around 1,400 nautical miles from the Indian coast.
"My sincere gratitude to PM Narendra Modi for the brave action of the Indian Navy in rescuing the hijacked Bulgarian ship 'Ruen' and its crew, including 7 Bulgarian citizens," Radev had tweeted.
Bulgaria's deputy PM Mariya Gabriel had also expressed gratitude in a post on X to which External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar responded by saying, "That's what friends are for."
In an operation spanning over 40 hours, the Indian Navy got 35 pirates to surrender and rescued all the 17 crew members without any injuries.
For the operation, the Navy deployed its P-8I aircraft, INS Kolkata and INS Subhadra, and an unmanned aerial vehicle. The MARCOS commandos were air-dropped for the operation by C-17 aircraft.
"The vessel MV Ruen was hijacked by Somali pirates on December 14 last year and was reported to have sailed out as a pirate ship towards conducting acts of piracy on the high seas," the Navy said in a statement.
