Indian Navy training squadron arrives in Sri Lanka on three-day visit

Colombo: The Indian Navy's First Training Squadron, comprising two warships and a Coast Guard vessel, arrived in Sri Lanka on Monday for a three-day goodwill visit aimed at boosting bilateral maritime cooperation, according to the Indian High Commission.

The visit is part of a long-range training deployment that also includes calls at Port Victoria in Seychelles and Male in the Maldives before the squadron returns to its base port in Kochi.

The squadron provides initial sea training to officer trainees of the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, and friendly foreign navies.

It is under the command of Captain Tijo K Joseph, Senior Officer of the First Training Squadron and Commanding Officer of INS Tir.

Five officer trainees from the Sri Lanka Navy are also participating in the long-range training deployment, the Indian mission said.

Sri Lanka Navy's Director General Training Rear Admiral Rohan Joseph will visit the ships upon their arrival at Colombo Port and interact with the commanding officers, training officers and trainees on board.

The Senior Officer of the First Training Squadron and the commanding officers of the visiting vessels will also call on Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Santosh Jha and Commander Western Naval Area of the Sri Lanka Navy Rear Admiral Harsha De Silva.

During the visit, officer cadets will participate in a series of professional, training and sporting interactions with the Sri Lanka Navy.

Cross-visits by Indian cadets to the Naval and Maritime Academy (NMA) in Trincomalee, a port city on the northeast coast of the island nation and Sri Lankan naval cadets to the Indian ships are also planned.

INS Tarangini, which is also part of the First Training Squadron, visited Sri Lanka in March to provide ocean-sailing training and experience to Sri Lanka Navy officer trainees from the NMA in Trincomalee.

The Indian mission said the visits by Indian Navy and Coast Guard vessels to Sri Lanka were aimed at further strengthening ties between the two countries' maritime forces in line with India's 'Neighbourhood First' policy and its vision of 'Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions (MAHASAGAR)'.

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