Two Indian Coast Guard ships have arrived at Sri Lanka's port of Galle to conduct joint training exercises, the Indian mission in Colombo said on Tuesday.
Samarth, an offshore patrol vessel, and Abhinav, a fast patrol vessel, arrived at the southern port on Tuesday. Following their stay in Galle, the vessels are scheduled to visit Colombo for four days from March 2 before returning to India.
''Indian Coast Guard Ship Samarth and Abhinav enter Galle harbour today on a goodwill visit to Sri Lanka. Visit of ICG ships will facilitate professional exchanges & joint exercises with the Sri Lanka's Coast Guard,'' the Indian Coast Guard said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
"During the stay, the ships will undertake training for Sri Lanka Coast Guard on VBSS (visit, board, search, and seizure), fire fighting and damage control, maritime pollution response and hold few other professional interactions,'' an official release said.
The ships will be open to schoolchildren to improve the people-to-people connection between the two nations. The visit also seeks to enhance camaraderie and interoperability between the two neighboring navies.