The Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy Vice Admiral Damian Fernando returned to the country today (30) after concluding a three-day official visit to India at the invitation of the Indian Navy.

During the visit, Vice Admiral Fernando held a series of high-level discussions with senior Indian defence and military officials, focusing on strengthening bilateral defence and maritime security cooperation.

The Navy Commander met Indian Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Krishna Swaminathan at the Indian Naval Headquarters in New Delhi. Discussions centred on enhancing maritime security cooperation between the two navies, expanding training opportunities and strengthening capacity-building programmes in support of security in the Indian Ocean region, according to a statement issued by the Sri Lanka Navy.

Vice Admiral Fernando also held talks with India’s Chief of Defence Staff General N.S. Raja Subramani, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh and Vice Chief of the Air Staff Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit, as well as representatives of the Indian defence industry.

The discussions focused on bilateral defence cooperation, joint training programmes and opportunities to further enhance air and maritime cooperation.

As part of the visit, Vice Admiral Fernando travelled to Kochi, Kerala, where he met Vice Admiral Sameer Saxena, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of India’s Southern Naval Command.

The two sides discussed existing naval training exchange programmes and the possibility of introducing and expanding further training initiatives.

The visit is expected to further strengthen defence ties between Sri Lanka and India while creating additional opportunities for training and capacity development for the Sri Lanka Navy.