A five-ship Indian naval training flotilla, based here, is on a visit to Sri Lanka to foster "bridges of friendship" between the two countries and expose their trainees to foreign waters.
The vessels, belonging to the First Training Squadron of the Indian Navy and functioning under the Southern Naval Command (SNC) headquartered here, began a five-day visit to Colombo yesterday, a defence release said today.
The visit is "to expose the trainees to the conduct of warship in foreign waters, port familiarisation and foster bridges of friendship between the two countries", it said.
The ships -- INS Tir, INS Sujata, INS Sudarshini, INS Shardul and Coast Guard vessel ICGS Sarathi -- would be there in the Sri Lankan coast till November 6.
The flotilla is headed by Captain D J Revar, Senior Officer, the First Training Squadron, who is also the commanding officer of INS Tir.
The officers of the visiting ships called on Commander of Sri Lankan Navy Vice Admiral S S Ranasinghe yesterday, the release said.
Later, the Indian trainee officers visited the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) Memorial and laid wreaths there while the ships were visited by Sri Lankan NCC cadets.
At the First Training Squadron, the Indian Navy also trains officers from friendly foreign countries. In the past more than four decades, it has imparted training to 13,500 international trainees from over 40 countries.
At present, 136 officers and 122 sailors from Sri Lanka are undergoing various "ab-initio to advanced courses" at the Southern Naval Command, the release said.
The SNC, headed by Vice Admiral A R Karve, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, has gained the reputation of being the finest training destination by maintaining a focused approach to provide high quality training and by constant adaptation to evolving tactics and technologies, it added.
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