New Delhi: The ninth edition of the Sri Lanka-India bilateral maritime exercise, SLINEX (Sri Lanka–India Naval Exercise), began at Visakhapatnam on Monday to improve interoperability, mutual understanding, and the exchange of best practices and procedures for multi-faceted maritime operations between the two navies.
The four-day exercise will conclude on March 10, official sources said.
They held the first SLINEX exercise in 2005.
They divide it into two phases: the Harbour Phase, being held at Visakhapatnam (March 7 and 8), and the Sea Phase, to be organized in the Bay of Bengal (March 9 and 10).
The Harbour Phase includes professional, cultural, sporting, and social exchanges. Surface and anti-air weapon firing exercises, seamanship evolutions, aviation operations including cross deck flying, advanced tactical maneuvers, and special forces operations at sea will all take place during the Sea Phase.
The Indian Navy is being represented by the INS Kirch while its Sri Lankan counterpart is represented by the SLNS Sayurala, an advanced offshore patrol vessel, a guided missile corvette.
INS Jyoti, a fleet support tanker, Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH), Sea King and Chetak helicopters, and Dornier maritime patrol aircraft are among the other Indian Navy participants.
The previous edition of SLINEX took place off the coast of Trincomalee in October 2020.
(Venkatesh)