Navy chief Admiral Sunil lanba held wide ranging discussions on bilateral defence ties and strategic issues during his visit to Saudi Arabia from February 4-8. The two sides also explored possibilities to further enhance defence co-operation in various fields of mutual interest.
The main focus of parleys between lanba and his counterpart was evolving security threats in the region and enhancing cooperation to pursue common strategic interests, Navy spokesperson Captain D K Sharma said here on Friday.
The Navy chief held talks with Saudi Arabia's Deputy Defence Minister Mohammad bin Abdullah Al-Aysesh, Chief of General Staff of Royal Saudi Armed Forces General Abdul Rahman bin Saleh Al-Bunyan and Commander of Royal Saudi Naval Forces Vice Admiral Fahd bin Abdulla Al-Ghofaily. He also interacted with the commanders of the Royal Saudi Arabian land Forces, Air Forces and Air Defence Forces. lanba, who is also chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee comprising chiefs of the Army, Navy and Air Force, visited a number of key naval installations in Saudi Arabia. These included the Naval Operations Centre and the Western Fleet at Jeddah. He also visited HMS Dammam, an Al- Riyadh class frigate.
The two navies have long standing ties and the Indian Navy cooperates with the Royal Saudi Naval Forces on many fronts, including training exchanges and hydrographic cooperation. Officers from the Royal Saudi Armed Forces have been undergoing training at various Indian defence training institutes, including the National Defence Academy(NDA) and the National Defence College(NDC). External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had paid a bilateral visit to Saudi Arabia from February 6 to 8.
Security and counter-terror cooperation between India and Saudi got a boost after then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the Gulf nation eight years back during which the two countries elevated their ties to a strategic partnership level.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Saudi Arabia in April 2016. Both sides had decided to further ramp up their defence and security ties, including counter-terrorism cooperation.