Navy chief to visit Australia, New Zealand

New Delhi [India], Aug 31 (ANI): Navy Chief Admiral Karambir Singh will be on a six-day visit to Australia and New Zealand during which he will interact with his counterparts and also other senior defence and government officials.
An official release said that India and Australia have a matured defence relationship underpinned by the 2006 Memorandum on Defence Cooperation and the 2009 Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation.
The two countries also signed a Framework for Security Cooperation agreement in 2014 and relationship has grown to include a range of forums for strategic dialogue, as well as regular interactions between the navies through visits of senior officers, staff talks and training exchanges.
Indian Navy (IN) and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) have been regularly interacting to enhance maritime cooperation.
The third edition of bilateral naval exercise AUSINDEX, conducted in April 2019 in India, witnessed the largest ever participation from both navies.
Indian Navy and Royal Australian Navy are partners in the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), which is a maritime cooperation construct conceptualised by Indian Navy in 2008.
Both the navies are also co-chairs for the IONS Working Group on Information Sharing and Inter-operability, for which the inaugural meeting was hosted by Australia in June 2019.
The release said that India's defence relations with New Zealand date back to World War I.
Naval cooperation activities between the two countries include port calls by warships, passage exercises and participation in courses conducted at defence institutes.
New Zealand has also been a regular participant of `Milan' activities conducted by the Indian Navy.
The release said that the visit, which will take place from September 2 to 6, will consolidate existing maritime cooperation initiatives as well as explore new avenues with Australia and New Zealand. (ANI)