Indian Navy's first training squadron on four-day visit to Sri Lanka

New Delhi: The Indian Navy’s first training squadron comprising six ships is on a four-day visit to Sri Lanka starting Sunday to expose young officers and officer-trainees to the socio-political and maritime facets of different countries in the Indian Ocean region, officials said.

Five Indian Navy ships — Sujata, Magar, Shardul, Sudarshini and Tarangini — and an Indian Coast Guard ship, Vikram, have reached Sri Lanka as a part of the “overseas deployment of 100th and 101st integrated officers training course (IOTC)”, the Navy officials said.

This deployment will expose the young officers and officer-trainees to the socio-political and maritime facets of different countries in the Indian Ocean region, they said.

These officers will get familiarised with ports, and foster bridges of friendship with foreign nations, the officials said.

During this deployment, Magar and Shardul along with trainees of the 101st IOTC will visit the Colombo harbour, while Sujata, Sudarshini, Tarangini and Vikram will visit Trincomalee with the trainees of the 100th IOTC, they noted.

Various training activities are planned to be conducted between the navies of the two countries during the four days with the aim to enhance interoperability of the two forces, the officials stated.

The ships are part of the Southern Naval Command (SNC), which is the training command of the Indian Navy and is headed by Vice Admiral A K Chawla, they said.

The Indian Navy has been imparting training to international trainees for more than four decades now and as on date, a large number of officers and sailors from Sri Lanka are undergoing various ab-initio to advanced courses at the SNC, the officials said.

The command has gained the reputation of being the finest training destination by maintaining focused approach to provide high quality training and by constant adaptation to evolving tactics and technologies, they said.