Navy Chief Adm R Hari Kumar reaches Sri Lanka as Reviewing Officer for Commissioning Parade of Naval and Maritime Academy
13 Dec 2022 12:52:23
New Delhi, Dec 13: Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral R Hari Kumar has arrived in Sri Lanka on an official visit from Dec 13 to Dec 16. He has been invited as the Chief Guest and Reviewing Officer for the Commissioning Parade at the Naval and Maritime Academy (NMA) scheduled to take place in Trincomalee on Dec 15.
Indian Embassy in Sri Lanka shared pictures of Admiral R Hari Kumar's arrival in the island nation on Twitter. Indian Embassy in Sri Lanka tweeted, "Admiral R Hari Kumar #CNS @indiannavy arrived in #SriLanka on an official visit. #CNS was warmly received by RAdm UNP Parera, COS @srilanka_navy on his arrival." As part of the visit, Admiral R Hari Kumar will hold meetings with senior political and defence leadership of Sri Lanka.
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The Indian Navy Chief will also visit other defence establishments of Sri Lankan armed forces and review the progress of activities related to various bilateral defence cooperation. The Ministry of Defence in the press release noted, "The Indian Navy regularly interacts with the Sri Lanka Navy through the medium of annual Staff Talks and pursues several operational engagements at regular frequency." It stressed that Admiral R Hari Kumar's visit will further strengthen the bilateral defence cooperation with Sri Lanka, particularly in the maritime domain.
It further stated that the Indian Navy supports several capacity-building measures of Sri Lanka Navy, like the provision of naval platforms, including indigenously constructed Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs) and the Dornier aircraft of the Indian Navy deployed to Sri Lanka since Aug 2022. Furthermore, the Indian navy remains actively involved in various capability enhancement projects, including training the Sri Lanka Navy personnel in India.