Media Eye News Bureau: Chief of Royal Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Timothy W Barrett, along with Royal Australian Naval (RAN) delegates visited Indian Naval Academy (INA) today. During the visit, the Chief of Royal Australian Navy and accompanying RAN delegates were acquainted with Infrastructure, Academic facilities and training processes at INA.
The aim of the visit was to build bridges of friendship between the two navies, exchange best practices and to consolidate and enhance bilateral defence relations between India and Australia. Naval cooperation between India and Australia has been traditionally strong, encompassing a wide span which includes operational interactions, training visits, port calls, participation in competitive annual sailing regatta Admirals Cup at INA along with capacity building and capability augmentation initiatives.
The visit of Australian Naval Chief, along with Royal Australian Naval (RAN) delegates to INA closely follows the successful conclusion of the second edition of biennial Australia-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise (AUSINDEX) conducted off West coast of Australia in the Western Australia Exercise Areas (WAXA) from 13 to 19 June 17.
Indian Naval Ships Jyoti, Shivalik and Kamorta participated in the exercise. The AUSINDEX was followed by the visit of Royal Australian Navy (RAN) ship, HMAS Newcastle to Kochi, Kerala from 4th to 7th July.
