This was his first outing as Navy Chief. He handed over jointly developed survey maps to the navy officials of Seychelles and Maldives

NEW DELHI: Continuing with what has been New Delhi’s approach on strengthening bonds with countries in the Indian Ocean Region, Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral R Hari Kumar has visited Seychelles and Maldives.

This was his first outing as Navy Chief. He handed over jointly developed survey maps to the navy officials of Seychelles and Maldives. Admiral Hari Kumar was in Seychelles from April 21 to 23. Before that, he was in Maldives from April 18 to 20. He met the top political and military officials of the two nations.

Discussions covered a range of issues of mutual interest, including maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region and avenues to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation, said the Navy. Admiral Hari Kumar presented a navigation chart of Port Victoria (Seychelles), prepared by the National Hydrographic Office of India. He also reminisced his experiences as the then Naval Advisor to the Government of Seychelles in 2001-02.

India and Seychelles share a collaborative approach towards maritime security in the Indian Ocean. In this context, the Navy Chief appreciated the active participation of Seychelles in the Goa Maritime Conclave and Indian Ocean Naval Symposium.

On the Maldives visit, the Navy said, “India and Maldives share common perspectives on maritime security in the Indian Ocean and have been working together closely in several bilateral, mini-lateral and multilateral fora such as the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium and Colombo Security Conclave.”

The visit also identified new avenues of expanding the scope of bilateral cooperation in defence. The Admiral met Maldives President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi, among others. “The CNS unveiled the first navigation chart jointly produced by India and Maldives and handed over hydrography equipment to consolidate organic capabilities of the Maldives force,” the Navy said.