Sri Lanka: The Indian Navy’s first training contingent along with two warships and a Coast Guard ship arrived in Sri Lanka on Monday on a three-day goodwill visit. The visit is aimed at promoting maritime cooperation between the two countries, the Indian High Commission said. The visit is part of a long-distance training expedition. Under this, after Sri Lanka, Port Victoria of Seychelles and Maldives capital Male will also be visited. It will then return to its base port at Kochi.
The training squad imparts initial training at sea to trainee officers of the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard and friendly navies.
The contingent is commanded by Captain Tijo K Joseph, Senior Officer of First Training Squadron and Commanding Officer, INS Tir.
Five trainee officers of the Sri Lankan Navy are also participating in the long-range training exercise, the Indian mission said. Rear Admiral Rohan Joseph, Director General of Training, Sri Lanka Navy is scheduled to visit the ships and interact with the Commanding Officers, Training Officers and Trainees onboard them on arrival at Colombo harbour.
Senior officers of the First Training Squadron and Commanding Officers of the visiting ships will also call on the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka Shri Santosh Jha and Rear Admiral Harsha De Silva, Commander, Western Naval Area of the Sri Lanka Navy. During the visit, the Officer Trainees will participate in professional, training and sporting activities with the Sri Lankan Navy.
In addition, Indian Officer Trainees are also planned to visit the Naval and Maritime Academy (NMA) at Trincomalee and visit Indian ships of Sri Lankan naval trainees. Trincomalee is a port city located on the north-eastern coast of the island country of Sri Lanka.
As part of the first training squadron, INS Tarangini had also visited Sri Lanka in March this year. During that time, he imparted training and practical sailing experience to Sri Lankan trainee officers of the Naval and Maritime Academy, Trincomalee.
The visit of Indian Navy and Coast Guard ships to Sri Lanka is aimed at further strengthening the ties between the maritime security forces of the two countries, the Indian High Commission said. This is in line with India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy and the vision of ‘Mutual and Inclusive Growth for Security and Growth in the Region’ (OCEAN).
[DD News]