Indian Coast Guard Ships Vaibhav and Abhiraj, an Offshore Patrol Vessel and Fast Patrol Vessel are scheduled to visit Colombo from Dec. 23-27, 2024 and Galle from Dec. 29, 2024 – Jan. 02, 2025.
The Commanding Officers of the Indian Coast Guard Ships, Commandant Navtej Singh Sohal and Commandant (JG) S Sujith will be calling on Director General Sri Lanka Coast Guard and other Senior Officers.
Further, joint training on VBSS, Fire Fighting and Damage Control, Maritime Pollution Response and various professional interactions will be conducted during the visit.
A statement issued by the Indian High Commission in this regard, further notes :
The ships would host reception onboard for guests from Sri Lanka including senior officials from defence hierarchy and civil administration. The ship will organise yoga event to showcase Yoga demonstration for achieving physical, mental and spiritual well being.The ships will also carry out social interactions like Beach Cleaning and Walkathon during the visit towards awareness against marine plastic pollution under “Puneet Sagar Abhiyan”. In addition, Post departure a SAGAREX with Sri Lanka Coast Guard Ship off Colombo is also planned on 27 December 2024.
In order to further the people to people connect and enhance awareness about the Indian Coast Guard and its capability, the ships will be open for a visit by Sri Lanka Coast Guard personnel.
The visit of the Indian Coast Guard Ships is also significant in view of the potential for cooperation between India and Sri Lanka for augmenting capabilities of Sri Lanka Coast Guard for efficiently addressing shared challenges for maritime security in the region.
It may be recalled that Indian Naval Submarine Vela had earlier visited Colombo from 10-13 November 2024. Visits by Indian Navy and Coast Guardvessels to Sri Lanka aim to consolidate camaraderie and interoperability between the two neighbouring friendly Navies, which is in keeping with India’s SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) doctrine and ‘Neighbourhood First’ policy.
