Navy Chief to visit Sri Lanka, focus on maritime cooperation

Amidst growing concerns in India over China’s attempts to expand influence over Sri Lanka, Chief of the Indian Navy Admiral R Hari Kumar will begin a four-day visit to Sri Lanka starting December 13. The aim of the visit is to further strengthen overall bilateral maritime cooperation and other bilateral cooperation activities between the navies of both sides.

Importance of the visit

According to the Indian Navy this visit would further enhance the bilateral defence cooperation between the two countries, especially the maritime domain.

Agenda in Sri Lanka

During his three-day visit the Naval chief is the chief guest and reviewing officer for the Commissioning Parade at the Naval and Maritime Academy (NMA), Trincomalee, which is scheduled on December 15, 2022. Later he will interact with the top political as well as defence leadership of that country. He will also be visiting other defence establishments of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces.

Earlier this month on Dec 3, 2022 during the annual press conference ahead of the Navy Day, the Naval Chief said in response to a question related to the visit of the Chinese spy ship to Sri Lanka that the Indian Navy was aware of the presence of Chinese ships in the region. “We keep a track of them.”

Indian Navy & Sri Lanka

There are regular interactions between the two navies through the medium of annual Staff Talks and also pursues several operational engagements. Also as has been reported the Indian Navy supports several capacity building measures of the Sri Lankan Navy including — indigenously constructed Offshore Patrol Vessels (OPVs); and earlier this year in August Indian Navy has deployed Dornier aircraft to Sri Lanka .

Just two days ahead of a Chinese missile and satellite tracking ship ‘Yuan Wang 5’ docking in Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port, Vice Chief of the Indian Navy Vice Admiral SN Ghormade had started his two day visit to that country to hand over a maritime surveillance aircraft. This aircraft was provided to Sri Lanka from the inventory of the Indian Navy. It has been deployed to Sri Lanka to meet its immediate security requirement.

Also, the navy is engaged in other capability enhancement projects like training of the Sri Lanka Navy personnel in India. Also navy of the island nation is a regular participant in different multilateral engagements which are hosted by the Indian Navy like the Goa Maritime Conclave, the MILAN exercise, Admiral’s Cup Sailing Regatta, among other activities.

It was during the Defence Dialogue between the two countries back in 2018, that Sri Lanka to enhance its maritime surveillance capabilities had had sought the possibility of getting two Dornier Reconnaissance Aircraft from India. The aircraft that has been handed over to Sri Lanka will be flown and maintained by 15 Sri Lanka Air Force (SLAF) crew who have undergone training in India for four months. And they will be supervised by an Indian technical team attached to the SLAF.