The First Training Squadron Colombo port call ended on Thursday, when INS Tir, INS Sujata and Indian Coast Guard Ship Sarathi sailed from the Sri Lankan port and carried out a Passage Exercise (PASSEX) with the Sri Lanka Navy at sea.

The Sri Lankan ship in the drill was SLNS Nandimithra. According to the Ministry of Defence, the exercise covered coordinated manoeuvres and improved coordination and interoperability between the two forces.

The Sri Lanka Navy said Fast Attack Craft P 492 also sailed with Nandimithra for the exercise.

The Indian Navy confirmed the end of the First Training Squadron Colombo visit in a post on X, adding that the ships were continuing their long range training deployment.

First Training Squadron Colombo stay included a call on the Western Naval Area Commander

The Senior Officer of the squadron and the Commanding Officers of the three ships called on the Commander of the Western Naval Area of the Sri Lanka Navy. The squadron is led by Captain Tijo K Joseph, who also commands INS Tir.

Contact between the two navies has been steady this year. Vice Admiral Damian Fernando made India his first official visit abroad as Sri Lanka Navy Commander in August. A month later, the two sides held SLINEX-26 off Visakhapatnam, the 13th edition of their bilateral exercise, which concluded on 21 September.

Indian sea trainees visited the Naval and Maritime Academy at Trincomalee

Sea trainees from the squadron travelled to the Naval and Maritime Academy (NMA) at Trincomalee and met Sri Lankan cadets. Cadets from the academy then came aboard the Indian ships to see how training is run at sea.

The ministry said the exchanges let trainees of both navies share experience. It linked the visit to the MAHASAGAR vision for the region.

Ships opened to visitors in Colombo

Indian Navy personnel joined a beach clean-up. The ships were opened to visitors, including local residents and members of the Indian diaspora, who met the crew on board.

According to the Sri Lanka Navy, the programme also included friendly sports fixtures, a joint performance by the bands of the two navies and tours of cultural and historical sites across the island. A volleyball fixture was among them, with trophies for the winners and the runners-up.

Colombo followed port calls in Seychelles and the Maldives

The squadron was at Port Victoria, Seychelles, from 12 to 15 October. It held a PASSEX there with the Seychelles Coast Guard ship Andromache, covering joint patrolling, communication drills and coordinated manoeuvres.

Malé came next. The ships spent three days in the Maldivian capital and left on 24 October after a PASSEX with Maldives Coast Guard Ship Imaduddin, along with training interactions with the Maldives National Defence Force. More than 40 personnel donated blood at a camp held during that visit.

The squadron gives first sea training to officer cadets of India and partner navies

The First Training Squadron gives ab initio sea training to officer trainees of the Indian Navy, the Indian Coast Guard and friendly foreign navies.

Five Sri Lanka Navy trainees are sailing with it on this deployment. The squadron is based at Kochi and is due to return there at the end of the voyage.