NEW DELHI: There is no let-up in high-level military exchanges between India and Australia with Chief of the Royal Australian Navy Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, who is on a five-day official visit to India, meeting Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar here on Wednesday.
The Indian Navy said, "Discussions focused on avenues to strengthen bilateral maritime cooperation, including increased operational engagements, training exchanges and information sharing."
Earlier, Vice Admiral Hammond laid a ceremonial wreath at the National War Memorial and was thereafter welcomed with the customary Guard of Honour presented by the Indian Navy at the South Block, New Delhi.
During his visit from April 2-6, he is also scheduled to call on the Chief of the Defence Staff, Chief of the Air Staff and Defence Secretary at New Delhi.
Vice Admiral Hammond is scheduled to visit important establishments of the Indian Navy including the "Southern Naval Command (at Kochi) and Western Naval Command (at Mumbai) wherein he would interact with the respective Commanders-in-Chiefs, visit INS Vikrant, Druv Simulator, Naval Dockyard (Mumbai) and Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited ( MDL)," the Navy said.
Australia and India upgraded the bilateral relationship from a Strategic Partnership in 2009 to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership in 2020. Over the years, an array of institutional mechanisms has been put in place to promote bilateral cooperation.
The Indian Navy said, "India and Australia share commonality of perspective on several contemporary maritime security issues in the Indo-Pacific and have been working together closely in several bilateral and multilateral fora such as Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS), ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus) and QUAD."
Coming on the heels of the successful participation of Royal Australian Ship HMNAS Warramunga, Anzac Class Frigate, during multinational exercise Milan 24 and recently conducted maritime exercises, the visit by the Chief of Royal Australian Navy further consolidates the strong and long lasting bilateral relations between both navies.
As reported earlier by The New Indian Express, Air Marshal Robert Chipman, the Australian Air Chief, was in India in February. The Air Marshal's visit was also significant as he visited as the representative of all Australian defence forces.
He met the Indian service chiefs, higher officials of the defence ministry and participated in "closed door" meetings to discuss important bilateral issues.
