Lankan Naval chief reviews passing out parade held at INA

Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne, Chief of the Sri Lankan Navy, today reviewed the passing out parade of 340 cadets at the Indian Naval Academy here who successfully completed their training.
The presence of the Lankan Naval Chief marks a new chapter in consolidating strong bilateral naval relations between India and the island nation and to explore new avenues for naval cooperation, an INA release said here.
At the Passing out Parade (POP) held at the campus, 272 cadets of Indian Navy, 66 cadets of Indian Coast Guard and two International cadets - one each from Benin and Tanzania - passed out from the Academy.

The release said 25 female cadets from the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard were also among those who graduated. The Lankan Naval chief awarded medals to nine meritorious students following the ceremonial review. Wijegunaratne congratulated the cadets and urged them to constantly challenge their physical and mental limits to be a successful naval officer.
Vice Admiral AR Karve, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Naval Command, Vice Admiral S V Bhokare, Commandant, INA, Prof. Anil D Sahasrabudhe, Chairman, All India Council for Technical Education, New Delhi and other senior officers were present.
Midshipman Akshay Sarveswaran was presented with the 'President's Gold Medal' for the Indian Naval Academy B-Tech course during the event.

The 'Chief of the Naval Staff Gold Medal' for the Naval Orientation (Extended) course was awarded to Sub Lieutenant Arpan Mondal while the 'Chief of the Naval Staff Gold Medal' for the Naval Orientation (Regular) course was presented to Assistant Commandant Ravinder S Ramola, the release added.