Indian Navy ships reach Lanka for joint exercise

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Indian Naval Ships Kirch, Sumitra and Cora Divh entered Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, on Friday to participate in the sixth edition of SLINEX 2018, a bilateral Naval Exercise between India and Sri Lanka. The exercise will be held from September 7 to 13, according to information from Ministry of Defence.

The inaugural ceremony of the exercise held onboard SLNS Sayurala was attended by Rear Adm Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet (FOCEF) of Indian Navy and Rear Adm SA Weerasinghe, Commander Eastern Naval Area (COMEAST) and Rear Adm Ananda Kumar Guruge, Flag Officer Commanding Naval Fleet (FOCNF) of the Sri Lankan Navy.

In addition to these three Indian Navy ships, one ship-borne integral helicopter and two Maritime Patrol Aircraft Dornier are also participating from the Indian side while Sri Lankan Naval is represented by SLN Ships Sayurala, Samudra and Suranimala.

The exercise is being conducted in two phases - Harbour and Sea. The Harbour Phase will be held from 7-10, September at Trincomalee during which the participants will engage in professional, sporting and social interactions. The Harbour Phase will be followed by the Sea Phase from 11-13 September in the Bay of Bengal off Trincomalle and will include gun firings, communication procedures, seamanship as well as navigation evolutions and helicopter operations.

SLINEX series of bilateral maritime exercises were initiated in 2005 and since then five successful engagements have been conducted. SLINEX over the years has helped both the Navies in understanding each other's procedures and enhanced interoperability.