India is dispatching a flotilla of warships to the Gulf to add military heft to its ongoing stepped-up diplomatic outreach to countries of the region.

According to report, Guided-missile destroyer INS Delhi, stealth frigates INS Tarkash and INS Trikhand, missile frigate INS Ganga and tanker INS Deepak of the western naval fleet will leave Mumbai for Dubai on May 3. After three days in Dubai, the warships will reach Kuwait around May 12 before heading for Bahrain and Oman and then finally return to Mumbai by May 27-28.

Around the same time, from May 20 to 23, another Indian warship will be at the famous Bandar Abbas port city on southern coast of Iran.

Meanwhile, Defence minister Manohar Parrikar is slated to visit Oman in May, IAF's Sukhoi-30MKI fighter jets and IL-78 mid-air refuelling aircraft will also touch down in UAE for an exercise while returning from the Red Flag exercise at the Eielson airbase in Alaska (US) being held from April 28 to May 13, reports says.