Indian Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba to begin five-day US visit tomorrow; defence discussions on cards

New Delhi: Indian Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba will be visiting the US from 19-23 March, an official statement said.The visit is aimed at consolidating the cooperation between the armed forces of both countries and also to explore new avenues of defence cooperation.[caption id="attachment_3162380" align="alignleft" width="380"]

File image of Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba. Getty Images[/caption]During his visit, the Navy chief will hold bilateral discussions with US Defense Secretary James Mattis, Secretary of the Navy Richard V Spencer, Vice-Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph F Dunford Jr, and other senior ranking officials.He would also hold meetings with Chief of Naval Operations Admiral John M Richardson, Pacific Command chief Admiral Harry Harris, Pacific Fleet commander, Admiral Scott Swift, and Naval Sea Systems Command chief Vice Admiral Thomas J Moore.Admiral Lanba will be visiting the Pacific Command Headquarters at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, the Naval Surface Warfare Centre (NSWC) Dahlgren, the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery in Washington.India and USA have traditionally maintained close and friendly relations, including defence relation, wherein both countries have concluded major agreements in the recent past, including the Defence Framework Agreement, signed in 2015, which lays a blueprint for collaboration between their defence establishments and the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) signed in 2016, which is a foundational agreement, facilitating reciprocal logistics support between their armed forces.India has also been accorded Major Defence Partner status during by the US.The Indian Navy cooperates with the US Navy on many issues, which include operational interactions such as the Malabar, and RIMPAC series of exercises, training exchanges, exchange of White Shipping Information and Subject Matter Experts in various fields through the medium of Executive Steering Group (ESG) meetings. Warships from both navies have also been regularly visiting each other's ports.