Navy Chief Admiral Sunil Lanba's bilateral visit to Thailand begins on Thursday

Indian Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba is on a two-day bilateral visit to Thailand starting Thursday to consolidate and enhance the maritime bilateral relations between the two nations. The visit also aims to explore new avenues of defence cooperation.

"The visit is intended to consolidate and enhance the maritime bilateral relations between India and Thailand and also to explore new avenues of defence cooperation," read a statement.

During his visit, Admiral Lanba, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, will hold bilateral discussions with General Ponpipaat Benyasri, Chief of Defence Forces, Royal Thai Armed Forces, Admiral Luechai Ruddit, Commander-in-Chief Royal Thai Navy and other senior government officials.

In addition to holding important bilateral discussions, the Admiral will visit the Royal Thai Navy and Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters in Bangkok and the 3rd Naval Area Command at Phuket.

The Indian Navy cooperates with the Royal Thai Navy on many fronts, which include operational interactions, training exchanges and hydrographic cooperation.

The two nations have historical linkages that date back several centuries. The two countries established formal diplomatic relations in 1947, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Defence Cooperation in January 2012.

The Royal Thai Navy is also a member of the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS) and actively participates in the three IONS Working Groups, namely ‘Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief’ (HADR), ‘Maritime Security’ and ‘Information Sharing and Interoperability’.