The Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy Vice-Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, who is on an eight-day tour of India since October 19, visited the Southern Naval Command (SNC) here on Wednesday. The Vice-Admiral and his spouse were received at Naval Air Station INS Garuda by SNC Chief of Staff Rear Admiral S Y Shrikhande.
The visit has special significance as Vice-Admiral Samarasinghe had trained under SNC as a young lieutenant way back in 1981. In Kochi, the Vice-Admiral was briefed on the training activities of the command. He also visited some of the training facilities here, including the Navigation and Direction School, where he had done his navigation specialisation, standing first in the course. A lunch was hosted in honour of the Sri Lankan Navy Commander by Rear Admiral Shrikhande. Vice-Admiral Samarasinghe departed Kochi later in the evening.
During the tour of India, the Vice-Admiral participated in the golden jubilee celebrations of the National Defence College in New Delhi as an alumnus. The Vice-Admiral had taken the 45th course of NDC in 2005. While in Delhi, the Vice-Admiral held meetings with Defence Minister A.K. Antony and the Service Chiefs. He also visited the Eastern Navy Command in Visakhapatnam.
