(UTV|COLOMBO) – Vice Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe, Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) accompanied by Mrs Sandya Ranasinghe and a four member delegation arrived in Visakhapatnam, India on a three-day visit to the Eastern Naval Command (ENC), the UNI News Agency reported.
According to an ENC Spokesman, during the visit, Vice Admiral Sirimevan Ranasinghe interacted with Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, PVSM, AVSM, Flag Officer Commander-in-Chief, ENC and held discussions on issues of common interest.
On Friday, the Commander-in-Chief hosted a dinner in honour of the visiting Admiral. The delegation was briefed on the activities of the Commander and also visited the indigenously built state of the art stealth frigate INS Satpura, INS Vishwakarma, a premier training establishment which is the alma-mater for Naval Architects and the Naval Dockyard, Visakhapatnam.
Smt Sandya Ranasinghe interacted with the Committee Members and ladies of the Navy Wives Welfare Association (NWWA) (Eastern Region) that was conducted around various NWWA facilities by Mrs Meena Pawar, President NWWA (ER).
The relationship between India and Sri Lanka is more than 2,500 years old. Both countries have a legacy of intellectual, cultural, religious and linguistic interaction.
In recent years, the relationship has been marked by close contacts at all levels. Navy to Navy cooperation between Sri Lanka and India has been traditionally strong, encompassing a wide canvas which includes operational interactions through Training, Port Calls, and Passage Exercises.
The SLINEX series of bilateral maritime exercises between SL Navy and IN initiated in 2005 has over the years helped both Navies in understanding each other’s procedures and further enhanced interoperability which has always been high on account of the large training support provided by the IN to SLN. Vice Admiral Ranasinghe too, is an alumnus of the National Defence College, New Delhi.
The Defence Services Staff College, Wellington and the Anti-Submarine Warfare School, Kochi. SLN Ships Samudura and Suranimala participated in the recently concluded biennial maritime exercise MILAN-18 held at Port Blair from 06 Mar to 13 Mar 2018 while SLN Sayura is expected to make port at Visakhapatnam shortly.
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