As search efforts continued for a Chinese fishing vessel that sank in the Indian Ocean, the Indian Navy on Wednesday responded to a request from the Chinese Navy and offered assistance in the ongoing search.

A Chinese deep-sea fishing vessel capsized on Tuesday in the central Indian Ocean, which has so far left 39 people on board missing, including 17 Chinese mariners, 17 Indonesian mariners and five Philippine mariners.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told media on Wednesday that the Chinese and foreign vessels have arrived at relevant waters to conduct a search and rescue operation after the fishing vessel “Lupeng Yuanyu 028” capsized.

In a statement on Thursday, the Indian Navy said it deployed its “Air MR assets” in the Southern Indian Ocean Region to rescue the sinking Chinese fishing vessel.

"P8I aircraft have carried out multiple & extensive searches despite adverse weather & located multiple objects possibly belonging to the sunken vessel. As an immediate response, SAR equipment was deployed at the scene by the Indian aircraft on request of PLA(N) ships closing the area," the Indian Navy spokesperson tweeted.

“In a display of India’s obligations as a #credible & #responsible partner for ensuring #safety at sea, the #IndianNavy units also coordinated #SAR efforts with other units in the area & guided #PLA(N) warships transiting to the scene of incident," it added.

Official media reported the transport ministry also coordinated with maritime search and rescue agencies of Australia, Maldives and Sri Lanka to send additional forces to carry out search and rescue operations.

Meanwhile,?Australian maritime authorities have identified a large area in the Indian Ocean where they will focus the search.?A spokesperson for the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) told the Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency on Thursday that based on drift modelling, a remote 12,000 square km zone has been identified to search for the vessel.

(With inputs from PTI)