Indian Navy Chief Visits Mauritius
The Chief of Naval Staff Admiral RK Dhowan is on a scheduled four-day visit to Mauritius to further consolidate the bridges of friendship as well as explore new avenues of defense cooperation.
The Chief of Naval Staff will meet various Government and Defense officials during his stay at Mauritius.
A defense ministry release said that Dhowan and his Mauritius counterpart will inaugurate "data flow of the information exchange" concerning merchant marine.
The release said India and Mauritius share centuries old religious and linguistic bonds. Incidentally, 68 per cent of the population there is of Indian origin. This, in addition to the country's strategic location in the Indian Ocean, has resulted in a close relationship between India and Mauritius.
"These bonds have strengthened over time through goodwill gestures and bilateral visits. The people of Indian origin, who comprise around 68 percent of the population, have preserved their heritage and have a strong emotional attachment with India," the release said.
The Indian Navy has been actively supporting and cooperating with Mauritius maritime agencies towards meeting their maritime security needs in terms of hydrography surveys, supplementing exclusive economic zone surveillance efforts, provisioning of naval hardware such as ships and aircraft as well as cooperation in training.
