India – Sri Lanka Joint Naval Exercise SLINEX underway at Visakhapatnam

New Delhi: The 9th edition of the India-Sri Lanka bilateral naval exercise SLINEX is underway at Visakhapatnam. The maritime exercise that kicked off yesterday is being conducted in two phases – the harbour phase at Visakhapatnam on March 7 and 8, followed by the sea phase on March 9 and 10 in the Bay of Bengal. The previous edition of SLINEX was conducted off Trincomalee in October 2020.

According to the Indian Navy Spokesperson, the Indian Navy is being represented by INS Kirch, a guided missile corvette and INS Jyoti, a Fleet support tanker along with a fleet of Advanced Light Helicopters (ALH) Sea King and Chetak helicopters and Dornier maritime patrol aircraft; whereas the SLNS Sayurala, an advanced Offshore Patrol Vessel (OPV), is representing the Sri Lankan Navy.

SLINEX or Sri Lanka–India Naval Exercise aims at enhancing inter-operability, improve mutual understanding and exchange best practices and procedures for multi-faceted maritime operations between both navies. The Harbour Phase would include professional, cultural, sporting and social exchanges. Exercises during Sea Phase will include surface and anti-air weapon firing exercises, seamanship evolutions, aviation operations including cross deck flying, advanced tactical manoeuvres and special forces operations at sea. These will further enhance the high degree of inter-operability already existing between the two navies.

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