Admiral Sunil Lanba reviewing passing out parade at the Indian Naval Academy

KANNUR: Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sunil Lanba , who is also the chairman of Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC), has said the Defence Ministry has set up a ‘Defence diplomacy fund’ to strengthen the cooperation with the like-minded nations.

Addressing the media on the sidelines of the passing out ceremony of the new batch of officers from the Indian Naval Academy (INA), at Ezhimala in Kannur on Wednesday, he also said the Navy has a long-term plan for expansion for the Naval Academy.

“We have taken a number of initiatives in the recent years and changed the pattern of deployment, which is called mission-based deployment where ingress and egress routes of the Indian Ocean are secured by deployment of ships and aircraft,” he said.

The admiral also said the nation has now realized that its economic future and growth is linked to the oceans, and the navy is giving focus on Maritime security.

“Over 90 percent of our energy requirement comes through the oceans,” he added. Admiral Lanba said the Indian Navy has trained a number of officers from a whole lot of friendly foreign countries.

“We have trained around 1000 officers from nearly 30 countries and the Naval Academy is also providing training to them,” he said.

In the Autumn Term 2017 batch that passed out on Wednesday, there were two foreign cadets, he pointed out. They are from Tanzania and Maldives.

This time, as many as 326 cadets of Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, including 20 women officers, passed out from the Naval Academy apart from the two foreign cadets.

After the ceremonial review of the passing out parade, the admiral awarded medals to nine meritorious midshipmen and cadets.

