INDIA: As part of a maritime partnership exercise between the two navies, an Indian naval ship belonging to the Western Fleet recently visited Sri Lanka. Indian Naval ships Chennai and Teg practised with Sri Lanka Navy ship Sindurala as they left the port of Colombo.
The drill began with a simulated asymmetric threat against ships leaving port by Sri Lankan Navy swift assault vessels.
Following that, as part of seamanship drills, ships from both navies made approaches for towing, kept station for Replenishment at Sea, and manoeuvred at close range.
The Indian Navy’s Chetak helicopter also took part in the practise. The practise came to a close with the traditional steam past, in which a Sri Lankan ship approached a column of Indian Navy ships from the other direction, with troops manning their shipsides and waving goodbye.
“The professional interaction between the navies was extremely fruitful and enhanced interoperability between them,” an official statement said.
During the visit Rear Admiral Sameer Saxena, Flag Officer Commanding Western Fleet (FOCWF) called on Admiral Prof. Jayanath Colombage, the Foreign Secretary of Sri Lanka. Similarly, the Commanding Officers of INS Chennai and INS Teg called on Rear Admiral AUC De Silva, Commander of Western Naval Area of Sri Lanka.
As part of the visit, a friendly volleyball match was also played between personnel of the two navies to enhance mutual interaction at the junior levels. The Indian ships were kept open for the general public, school children, serving naval personnel, and children with special needs.
FOC-in-C, Eastern Naval Command visits Mumbai
In the meanwhile, Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Eastern Naval Command on a three-day visit to the Western Naval Command discussed issues related to maritime security.
On arrival, on Monday, the Admiral laid the wreath at the Gaurav Stambh (martyrs’ memorial), Naval Dockyard in South Mumbai. On the occasion, he was presented the Guard of Honour. Thereafter, he called on Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command.
Both the officers discussed issues related to operational importance. The combined Area of Responsibility of the Western & Eastern Naval Commands is about ten times the landmass of India.
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