U.K. Defence Minister signs White Shipping Information Agreement with Western Naval Command

Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Western Naval Command Girish Luthra on Tuesday signed an agreement on Sharing of White Shipping information with Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon, who is on a visit to India.

A twelve-member United Kingdom delegation, led by Michael Fallon, visited the Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy here.

Defence Minister Fallon in his interaction with Western Naval Command discussed on aspects related to Defence and Naval Cooperation, Maritime Security and current environment in the Indo-Pacific region, Progress on maritime issues, as outlined in the Defence and International Security Partnership (DISP) 2015.

The UK delegation also visited INS Kolkata, a frontline indigenously built stealth destroyer of the Indian Navy and was conducted around the ship.

The Royal Navy and the Indian Navy have for long shared a healthy relationship of mutual respect, trust and professionalism. The two have engaged in a bilateral naval exercise named KONKAN 2004 onwards. The last edition of the KONKAN series of exercises was held in December 2016 and INS Tarkash is scheduled to participate in KONKAN 17 off the coast of UK in May 2017.