Article Posted on : - Nov 07, 2024

NEW DELHI (PTI): Indian Navy Chief Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi has held a virtual interaction with heads of navies and maritime agencies as well as senior leadership from various Indian Ocean Region (IOR) littorals, and discussed opportunities for training collaboration to tackle common maritime security challenges.

His interaction on Tuesday with representatives of Bangladesh, Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Tanzania was hosted as part of the third edition of the high-level virtual interaction 'MAHASAGAR', according to a spokesperson of the Indian Navy.

"During the current edition, the principals candidly dwell on the imperatives of quality training, and opportunities for training collaboration between IOR littorals towards developing requisite capacities and skilled manpower to tackle common maritime security challenges in the IOR," he said.

During the interaction, Adm Tripathi "interacted with heads of navies or maritime agencies and senior leadership from Indian Ocean Region littorals, viz, Bangladesh, Comoros, Kenya, Madagascar, Maldives, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Sri Lanka and Tanzania," the spokesperson said.

The theme was 'Training Cooperation to Mitigate Common Maritime Security Challenges in IOR', which highlights the present and necessary imperatives for training towards mitigation of common maritime challenges in the IOR.

'MAHASAGAR' -- Maritime Heads for Active Security And Growth for All in the Region -- which means vast ocean in Hindi, is the Indian Navy's flagship outreach for high-level virtual interaction among the leaders.

The initiative, started by the Indian Navy, is conducted biannually and has garnered wide acceptance among the participating nations ever since its inception in 2023, the Navy spokesperson said.