New Delhi: Admiral Fahad Abdullah S Al-Ghofaily, Chief of Staff, Royal Saudi Naval Forces is on a four day official visit to India from 10 – 13 Jan 24. The visit is a testimony to the longstanding relationship between the navies of Saudi Arabia and India.
Admiral Fahad Abdullah S Al-Ghofaily called on Adm R Hari Kumar, the Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy on 11 Jan 24 at New Delhi and held discussions on collaborative mechanisms and measures to further strengthen Navy to Navy cooperation. He was received with a ceremonial Guard of Honour at the South Block Lawns.
Indian Navy cooperates with Royal Saudi Naval Force through various initiatives, which include operational interactions such as bilateral naval exercise Al Mohed Al Hindi, training and other maritime avenues. Indian Navy ships have been regularly undertaking port calls at various ports of Saudi Arabia. Indian Navy has also been interacting with Royal Saudi Naval Force in various multilateral fora viz. IONS (Indian Ocean Naval Symposium), MILAN, CMF (Combined Maritime Forces) and DCoC-JA (Djibouti Code of Conduct – Jeddah Amendment), where both navies have been supporting each other to supplement maritime security in the region.
The visit of Admiral Fahad Abdullah S Al-Ghofaily includes interaction with the Chief of Defence Staff, Defence Secretary, Chief of Air Staff and Vice Chief of Army Staff.
During this visit, Admiral Fahad Abdullah S Al-Ghofaily would also visit IFC-IOR at Gurugram and Southern Naval Command at Kochi.
The extant visit by the Chief of Staff, Royal Saudi Naval Forces is aimed to increase naval cooperation between the two navies and has renewed the sense of commitment of two friendly maritime neighbours to address shared maritime challenges in the IOR.