Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Hari Kumar visits the Seychelles to boost bilateral defence cooperation

Published : Apr 23, 2022 18:55 IST

Chief of the Indian Naval Staff Admiral R. Hari Kumar (left) with President of the Seychelles Wavel Ramkalawan on April 23.

Chief of the Indian Naval Staff Admiral R. Hari Kumar (left) with President of the Seychelles Wavel Ramkalawan on April 23.

Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral R. Hari Kumar, now on his maiden overseas visit since taking over the mantle of the CNS, visited the Indian Ocean archipelago of Seychelles on a three-day visit starting April 21.

During the visit to the Seychelles Admiral Hari Kumar called on and had discussions with Wavel Ramkalawan, President of Seychelles; Sylvestre Radegonde, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Tourism; and Brigadier Michael Rosette, Chief of Defence Force (CDF) of the Seychelles Defence Forces (SDF).

According to a spokesperson for the Indian Navy, the discussions covered a wide range of topics of mutual interest, including maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region and avenues to further strengthen bilateral defence cooperation.

Admiral Hari Kumar presented a “Navigation Chart” of the port of Victoria, the Seychelles capital, prepared by the National Hydrographic Office (NHO) of India under the memorandum of understanding on bilateral hydrographic cooperation.

While Brigadier Michael Rosette hosted the CNS for a luncheon at SDF Headquarters, the SDF leadership attended a reception onboard Indian Naval Ship (INS) Sharda, hosted jointly by the Indian High Commissioner to Seychelles General Dalbir Singh Suhag (Retd) and Admiral Hari Kumar.

Stated the spokesperson: “The interactions of the CNS at Seychelles set in motion a promising trajectory of further growth in the scale and scope of bilateral defence engagements, founded on the principles of SAGAR [Security And Growth for All in the Region] and the “Five S” Vision of Sammaan [Respect], Samvaad [Dialogue], Sahyog [Cooperation], Shanti [Peace], ) and Samriddhi [Prosperity] articulated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

Admiral Hari Kumar’s visit to the Seychelles comes on the heels of his recent visit (April 18 to 20) to the Maldives, during which he called on President of the Maldives Ibrahim Mohamad Solih, Foreign Minister Abdulla Shahid and Defence Minister and Chief of Defence Force (CDF) Major General Abdulla Shamaal.

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