Indigenous Indian Naval Ship Sahyadri, a multi-role missile frigate of the Indian Navy has called to make a port call at Colombo today (13) to complement the visit of the Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral R Hari Kumar.

The ship would engage in training engagements with the Sri Lanka Navy and participate in Maritime Partnership Exercises with the Sri Lanka Navy.

It may be recalled that the Indian Navy shared close interactions with the Sri Lanka Navy during annual exercise SLINEX 21 in March 2022.

Further, Indian Navy provided a maritime reconnaissance aircraft to Sri Lanka Air Force in August 2022 to augment its maritime capabilities. Indian Navy is also providing customized and specialized training to Sri Lanka Navy including in marine technology.

The visit of CNS symbolizes strong relations and close cooperation between the two countries, with Sri Lanka being accorded the status of ‘Priority One’ partner by India. It would strengthen the existing bilateral maritime relations between the two countries and areas of common security concern and enhancing capacity and capability building initiatives towards ensuring peace in the region would be discussed during the visit. The visit is also indicative of the growing camaraderie and friendship between the two nations in line with India’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.