Navy chief leaves for Kenya trip

Indian Navy chief R.K. Dhowan Sunday left for a five-day visit to Kenya in a bid to consolidate defence relations with the African Indian Ocean Region country.

The Nov 2 to Nov 6 visit of Admiral Dhowan aims at cementing existing maritime linkages and "to explore avenues to build more bridges of friendship", a navy statement said.

"India and Kenya have enjoyed historical maritime linkages since many centuries... Apart from regular ship visits, the Indian Navy has been extending training support to the Kenyan Navy," the statement said.

India has also extended hydrographic survey assistance to Kenya and Indian Navy survey ships have recently carried out significant surveys of Kenyan waters.

"One of the highlights of the visit is presentation of 'first updated navigational chart' of the areas by the Navy chief to Kenyan authorities," the statement added.

The survey was conducted by INS Jamuna, a survey ship which is currently deployed on East African coast on a hydro-graphic mission.