New Delhi. Vice Admiral Piyal De Silva, Commander of Sri Lanka Navy visited India from March 30 to April 2 on an official visit.

This is the first visit of the Admiral to India after taking over as Commander, Sri Lanka Navy. The visit aims to consolidate bilateral naval relations between India and Sri Lanka as also to explore new avenues for naval cooperation.

During his visit, the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy held bilateral discussions with Admiral Sunil Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC Chairman Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) and Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) and other senior officials of the Indian Navy on April 2.

Various important maritime engagement issues related to operational interactions such as Port Calls, conduct of Bilateral Exercise, Training, Hydrography cooperation and exchange of Subject Matter Experts in various fields were discussed during the bilateral interactions.

In addition to New Delhi, the Commander, Sri Lanka Navy visited Kochi and Mumbai, where he held discussions with the senior naval officials and visited various naval units. The training facilities at the Indian Naval Academy were also witnessed first hand during the visit of the Commander Sri Lanka Navy to Ezhimala, Kerala.