As India plays a major maritime role in the Indian Ocean due to its strategic interest for the country, Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba will hold talks on related issues with his counterparts of other navies of the littoral States of this region in Bangladesh.
It is hosting a conclave of Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) set up at India's initiative more than a decade back. Navy chief will be there for three days starting Monday and will also review a multilateral naval exercise there to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Indian warships and an aircraft are participating in it.
The exercise is known as International Multilateral Maritime Search and Rescue Exercise (IMMSAREX) and is held under the aegis of IONS. India played a key role in forming this organization in 2008 and has now grown into a formidable organisation comprising 23 member nations and nine observer countries.
Four Indian warships including Ranvir, Sahyadri, Gharial and Sukanya besides one P-8 I long range maritime surveillance aircraftwill take part in the two-day exercise starting Monday at the port city of Cox's Bazar, officials said here on Saturday.
Apart from the exercise, an 'Extraordinary Conclave of Chiefs (ECoC)' meeting of IONS is also scheduled on November 28 which will also be attended by Lanba. The meeting is expected to review the progress made by three IONS Working Groups on maritime security information exchange, interoperability and humanitarian assistance.
Lanba will also hold bilateral discussions with Chief of Bangladesh Navy on Monday and several other navy chiefs of other participating countries. The Indian Navy chief will also gift 'War Memorabilia' for the 'Liberation War Museum' of Bangladesh.
His visit is also aimed at consolidating naval relations between India and Bangladesh and to explore new avenues of maritime co-operation.
Indian Navy serving and retired officers also regularly take part in Victory Day celebrations held in Bangladesh to mark Liberation War of 1971.
