Three weeks after India handed over a coastal radar system to the Maldives, Admiral Radhakrishnan Hari Kumar, chief of the naval staff, met Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih and other senior leaders of the island nation in its capital Male with a focus on further boosting the bilateral defence ties, PTI reports.
On his first visit abroad after taking charge as the naval chief over four-and-a-half months ago, Admiral Hari Kumar held extensive talks with Maldivian Defence Minister Mariya Ahmed Didi and Major General Abdulla Shamaal, the chief of defence staff of the island nation, officials said.
After his meeting with Solih, the Indian high commission in Male tweeted that the CNS reiterated India's commitment to enhancing maritime cooperation with the Maldives for a safe and secure Indian Ocean region.
Admiral Kumar, who began his three-day trip to the Maldives on Monday, also met Maldivian Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid.
Admiral Kumar also presented a consignment of engineering equipment for further sustenance of ships belonging to the Maldives National Defence Forces, officials said.
He also unveiled the first navigation chart jointly produced by India and the Maldives and handed over certain hydrography equipment to consolidate the organic capabilities of the MNDF, the officials said.
The admiral hosted a reception onboard the Indian Naval Ship Sutlej on Monday in honour of the Maldivian defence minister and the MNDF leadership.
The INS Sutlej is currently deployed in the Maldives for undertaking a joint hydrographic survey under the provisions of an agreement on hydrographic cooperation.
About Admiral Hari Kumar's talks with Didi, the Maldivian defence ministry said the discussions focussed on ways to further boost the cooperation between the MNDF and the Indian Navy in the areas of maritime information sharing, maritime domain awareness and capacity-building initiatives.
Didi highlighted that the India-Maldives defence and security partnership is at its pinnacle, and thanked India for providing swift and unconditional support to the Maldives at all times.
External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar handed over the coastal radar system to Major General Shamaal last month.
Please click on the images for glimpses of Admiral R Hari Kumar's meeting with Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Tuesday, April 19, 2022.
IMAGE: Admiral R Hari Kumar presents an Indian Navy memento to Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. All photographs: PTI Photo
IMAGE: As President Solih and Admiral Hari Kumar discuss matters related to India-Maldives defence cooperation, India's High Commissioner Munu Mahawar and the CNS's staff officer take notes.
IMAGE: Interestingly, President Solih and Admiral Hari Kumar were born 43 days of each other in 1962. The Maldivian leader turned 60 on March 1; the admiral did likewise on April 12.
Photographs curated by Anant Salvi/Rediff.com
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