Navy chief Dinesh Tripathi to embark on UAE visit to boost defence ties

Navy Chief Adm Dinesh K Tripathi will visit the UAE from October 21-24 to strengthen defence cooperation between the two countries and explore new avenues of cooperation between their navies, an official statement said on Monday.

Adm Tripathi will also witness the conduct of the third edition of the India-UAE bilateral naval exercise, the defence ministry said in the statement.

The Chief of the Naval Staff is scheduled to hold discussions with Rear Admiral Pilot Saeed Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan, Commander of the UAE Naval Forces and other senior government officials of the UAE, it said.

Adm Tripathi is visiting the UAE from October 21-24, the ministry said.

"This visit aims to strengthen the defence cooperation between the two countries, in line with the deepening Comprehensive Strategic Partnership across all sectors, and consolidate bilateral maritime relations between India and UAE, and to explore new avenues of cooperation between the two navies," the statement said.

He is also scheduled to visit the National Defence College of the UAE, where he will interact with a group of student officers, it said.

The cooperative engagements between the Indian Navy and the UAE Navy include operational interactions through port calls, bilateral naval exercises and reciprocal visits, navy-to-navy staff talks, as well as Joint Defence Cooperation Committee (JDCC), it said.