Admiral RK Dhowan, the Chief of Naval Staff, will visit Singapore and Thailand on a five-day trip from 20-25 July. The objective of the trip is to strengthen the Indian Navy’s cooperation with South-East Asia and explore future opportunities, in line with India’s ‘Act East’ policy.
Dhowan will be in Singapore from 20-22 July. He will meet the Defence Minister, Chief of Defence Forces and the Chief of Navy. He will also visit the Singapore Armed Forces Training Institute (SAFTI MI) to interact with the faculty as well as young and middle level officers.
Dhowan will visit Thailand from 23-25 July. He will meet the Defence Minister, Chief of Defence Forces, Commander-in-Chief of Royal Thai Navy. They are expected to discuss fostering cooperation between the navies, include hydrography, developing comprehensive Maritime Domain Awareness through exchange of White Shipping information, increasing possibilities of coordinated patrolling, among other such areas.