Article Posted on : - Aug 17, 2016

PANAJI (PTI): The first international educational programme for naval officers of 'friendly foreign countries' was inaugurated by former Navy chief Admiral Arun Prakash (retd) on Tuesday.

Stressing the importance of maritime security in nation building during his speech, Prakash said in a dynamically changing geo-political scenario, navies from the Indian Ocean Region must forge stronger ties and develop an efficient security architecture.

The programme was organised by the Naval War College at Goa, the Indian Navy's premier institution of higher military education.

Rear Admiral Monty Khanna, Commandant of the college, welcomed the participating Navy and Coast Guard senior officers of Bangladesh, Maldives, Myanmar, Oman and Sri Lanka.

Aimed at building consensus among the regional maritime nations towards a collective approach to maritime security issues, the course curriculum includes international relations theory, geo-politics of the region, etc.

During the 8-week programme, the participants would visit Command Headquarters of Indian Navy in Mumbai, Visakhapatnam and Kochi in the first phase.

In the second phase, they would be integrated with the Naval Higher Command Course, a flagship programme for the Indian officers scheduled to start in September.