In the first of its kind, six ships of the Indian Navy’s first training squadron have arrived in Sri Lanka on a four-day visit to further strengthen the bilateral defence cooperation and to improve the interoperability of the two navies, officials said.
The ships arrived in the ports of Colombo and Trincomalee on Sunday to carry out training with their Sri Lankan counterparts.
“The visit marks a milestone in the history of bilateral relations, wherein for the first time such a large number of Indian Navy ships have visited Sri Lanka. Training has been one of the strongest and most enduring pillars of India-Sri Lanka bilateral defence cooperation and this visit will provide further impetus to the same. In line with the vision of both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Gotabaya Rajapaksha to increase people to people connect between both countries, this visit will positively contribute towards strengthening the existing bonds of camaraderie and friendship between defence personnel of both countries,” the Indian High Commission said in a statement.
