Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar on three-day visit to Oman
New Delhi: Admiral R Hari Kumar, chief of the naval staff, Indian Navy, is on a three-day official visit to Oman from 31 July to 2 August, the ministry of defence said. The visit aims to consolidate existing bilateral defence relations and high-level discussions with military leadership of the Sultanate of Oman.
“During the visit, Adm R Hari Kumar would call on Minister of the Royal Office of the Sultanate of Oman, Lieutenant-General Sultan bin Mohammed Al Nu’amani, and hold bilateral discussions with his counterpart Rear Admiral Saif bin Nasser bin Mohsen Al-Rahbi, Commander of Royal Navy of Oman (RNO) and with Maj Gen Matar bin Salim bin Rashid Al Balushi, Commander of Royal Army of Oman," the ministry said. The CNS would also be visiting key defence and training installations in Oman, it added.
Coinciding with the visit, Indian Navy’s indigenously designed and constructed guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam arrived at Port Sultan Qaboos, Muscat on 30 July for a three-day port call, during which various naval cooperation events are scheduled with the Royal Navy of Oman, which will culminate with a Maritime Partnership Exercise (MPX) on 03 August. Indian Navy and Royal Navy of Oman engage with each other under numerous foreign cooperation avenues, which include operations, training and exchange of subject matter experts in various fields.
The 13th edition of the bilateral naval exercise Naseem Al Bahr, an important biennial activity initiated in 1993, was conducted off Oman in 2022, and the next edition is scheduled in 2024. Both navies also engage extensively under the aegis of various multilateral constructs such as Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS).
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