As major defence partners, India and the US are continuously investing their expertise and knowledge in strengthening their relationship

US Navy’s Chief of Naval Operations Adm Michael Gilday has arrived in India on a five-day (October 11-15) visit, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement on Tuesday.

Admiral Gilday will interact with Adm Karambir Singh, Chief of the Naval Staff, in addition to other high ranking officials of the Indian government.

During his visit, Admiral Gilday is scheduled to land at Indian Navy’s Western Naval Command (at Mumbai) and Eastern Naval Command (at Visakhapatnam) wherein he would interact with the respective Commander-in-Chiefs.

Admiral Gilday is also scheduled to embark the USN Carrier Strike Group off the East Coast of India along with an Indian delegation.

India and the US have traditionally maintained close and friendly relations. The Defence relationship between the two countries has been one of mutual trust and confidence, which has transformed after the accord of major ‘Defence Partner Status’ to India in June 2016.

In addition, both countries have concluded four foundational agreements, which includes the Defence Framework Agreement, signed in 2015, which lays a blueprint for collaboration between the defence establishments of both countries, the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) signed in 2016, which is a foundational agreement facilitating reciprocal logistics support between the Armed Forces of both countries, the Communications Compatibility and Security Agreement (COMCASA) signed on September 6, 2018, which facilitates information-sharing between the Armed Forces of both nations and more recently, the Basic Exchange Cooperation Agreement (BECA), which enables sharing of geo - spatial information between the Ministry of Defence and the National Geospatial Agency (NGA) of the US.

The Indian Navy closely cooperates with the US Navy on numerous issues, which include operational interactions such as the MALABAR and RIMPAC series of exercises, training exchanges, exchange of White Shipping Information and Subject Matter Experts in various fields, all of which are coordinated through the medium of Executive Steering Group (ESG) meetings conducted annually.

In addition, warships from both Navies regularly make port calls at each other’s ports. Both Navies have also been cooperating towards exploring new avenues for collaboration with a shared aim of a ‘Free, Open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.