Shringla meets Commander of US Pacific Fleet

Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla welcomed Commander of US Navy's Pacific Fleet and Australian Navy Chief Vice Admiral in India and discussed maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region.

MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in tweets that bilateral defence ties were also discussed during the meetings held separately.

The visit of the senior officers are in India coincides with the Indian Navy's multilateral exercise MILAN 2022.

"Foreign Secretary @harshvshringla welcomed Admiral Paparo, Commander @USPacificFleet in India for Ex #MILAN2022. Discussed India and US bilateral maritime cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region," Bagchi said in a tweet.

"Foreign Secretary @harshvshringla welcomed Australian Navy Chief Vice Adm. Michael Noonan @CN_Australia to India for Ex #MILAN2022. Defence ties and cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region between India and Australia were discussed," he added.

US Navy's P-8A Multi-Mission Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance Aircraft arrived at Naval Air Station INS Dega Visakhapatnam on Thursday to participate in the MILAN 2022.

The latest edition of the Indian Navy's multilateral exercise - MILAN 2022 will witness its largest-ever participation, with more than 40 countries sending their warships/high-level delegations.

MILAN 2022 is being conducted over nine days in two phases with the harbour phase scheduled from February 25 to 28 and the sea phase from March 1 to 4.

Since the inception of MILAN in 1995, the event has been held biennially except for 2001, 2005, 2016, and 2020. While the 2001 and 2016 editions were not held due to International Fleet Reviews, the 2005 editions were rescheduled to 2006 due to the 2004 Tsunami. 2020 edition of MILAN was postponed to 2022 due to COVID-19.

( With inputs from ANI )