New Delhi, Feb 12 (PTI) An Indian Navy warship today

reached Maldives to take part in a five-day joint patrolling exercise with its coast guard to increase maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region. INS Kalpeni arrived in Maldives for a five-day joint exercise with MNDF Coast Guard with an aim to jointly conduct maritime security patrol in the Exclusive Economic Zone of Maldives, official sources said. During this visit, the MNDF Coast Guard personnel will be embarking the ship and will be undertaking various operational training with Indian Naval personnel, they said. The joint patrol is aimed at increasing maritime security in the Indian Ocean region, especially in the waters around Maldives, they said. 'Kalpeni' is a completely indigenous new generation naval Ship designed and built by Garden Reach Ship Builder & Engineers and is named after an important island of the Andaman and Nicobar archipelago in Indian Ocean. The current exercise is part of bilateral cooperation and is expected to go a long way in strengthening maritime security cooperation between the two countries.