INS Sagardhwani, started on a two-month long Sagar Maitri (SM) Mission-4.
It is an oceanographic research vessel belonging to the Naval Physical & Oceanographic Laboratory (NPOL) of DRDO.
It aims to foster closer cooperation in socio-economic aspects and enhance scientific interactions, particularly in the field of ocean research, among Indian Ocean Rim (IOR) countries.
Under this initiative, DRDO introduced MAITRI.
MAITRI stands for ‘Marine and Allied Interdisciplinary Training and Research Initiative.
This initiative focuses on establishing long-term collaborations with IOR countries in the domain of ‘Ocean Research and Development’.