English: The Southern Naval Command, the Training Command of the Indian Navy, was augmented by INS Magar which arrived at Kochi on 10 April 2018 from Vishakhapatnam on change of base port. The ship was ceremoniously received and welcomed by Rear Admiral RJ Nadkarni, VSM, Chief of Staff, HQSNC. The ship will join the First Training Squadron (1TS) for sea training of young officers.

INS Magar, a Landing Ship Tank (Large) of the Indian Navy was built by Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers Ltd. Kolkata and commissioned on 18 July 1987. Over the past 30 years, she has participated in multifarious naval operations, from amphibious exercises, Fleet deployments and Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) operations. The major operations undertaken by the ship include Op Pawan (Indian Peace Keeping Force - IPKF operations in Sri Lanka), wherein she played a pivotal role in movement of logistics supplies to the area of operations, to support the IPKF land forces. The ship has participated in all major amphibious exercises on both seaboards and also undertaken HADR operations on numerous occasions. The most noteworthy operation was in the wake of the 2004 Tsunami, wherein the ship had provided relief for over 1300 survivors.

INS Magar is commanded by Commander Praveen Kumar Sinha. A Marine Commando as well as a qualified “Saturation Diver”, he has specialised in Counter Terrorist operations and Explosive Ordnance Disposal.