Navy Chief Admiral Hari Kumar visits Australia

NEW DELHI: Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar held wide ranging talks with the top military brass of Australia to boost maritime security cooperation during a three-day visit to that country. It was the first official visit of Admiral Kumar to Australia after he assumed charge as the Navy chief nearly 10 months back.

Admiral Kumar held talks with Chief of Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, Vice Chief of Australian Defence Forces Vice Admiral David Johnston, Secretary of Defence Greg Moriarty and Chief of Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Air Marshal Robert Chipman among others, the Indian Navy said.

"During these meetings, the leaders expressed their commitment to pursue collaborative activities in several areas of bilateral convergence," it said in a statement.

Admiral Kumar visited Royal Australian Naval facilities at HMAS Penguin and Hydrographic School.

"The discussions also highlighted the need for raising the level of synergy and focused efforts for overcoming the challenges of the maritime environment," the Navy said.

It said India and Australia share commonality of perspectives on several contemporary maritime security issues in the Indo-Pacific and have been working together closely in several bilateral and multilateral fora.

"Coming on the heels of successful participation of Indian Naval Ship Satpura and one P8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft of Indian Navy in the recently concluded multilateral exercise Kakadu, hosted by the RAN at Darwin, the visit of the Chief of Naval Staff further consolidated the strong and long standing bilateral relations between two countries," the Navy said.