Colombo, March 14: At a ceremony held on Sunday at the prestigious Naval and Maritime Academy (NMA), Tricomalee, the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay formally handed over training aids worth LKR 22 million to the Commander Eastern Naval Area of the Sri Lanka Navy.
Pursuing the commitment of Indian Navy to assist regional navies in capacity building, during his visit in December 2019, the Chief of the Indian Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh had committed to providing a number of training items to the Sri Lankan Navy.
With a focus on supporting specialization courses being conducted at NMA, Sri Lanka Navy model of indigenously developed Varunastra heavy weight torpedo, working model of Light Weight Torpedo, Underwater Telephone, Gas Turbine cut Model, model of HMS Tricomalee and Bathy thermograph were delivered to Sri Lanka in 2020 and were operationalized with joint efforts of Indian Navy, Sri Lankan Navy and the OEMs from India.
While formally handing over the training aids, the High Commissioner reiterated the importance of close cooperation between the two navies as an essential part of the overall bilateral engagement. He also handed over Kindle e-book readers and books to the library of the Naval and Maritime Academy.
The Indian Navy and the Sri Lankan Navy have always maintained a functional relationship and a number of training facilities of the Indian Navy are used by the Sri Lankan Navy
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