February 25, Colombo (LNW): Coast guard personnel from India, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka have commenced a four-day trilateral exercise aimed at bolstering maritime security and interoperability in the Indian Ocean Region.
Known as ‘DOSTI-16,’ the exercise involves Indian Coast Guard ship Samarth, ICGS Abhinav, and Sri Lanka Naval Ship Samudura, with Bangladesh participating as an observer.
The trilateral exercise seeks to enhance cooperation, strengthen friendship, improve mutual operational capability, and develop interoperability among the Coast Guard personnel of the participating nations.
Welcoming ADG S Paramesh, Additional Director General of the Indian Coast Guard, the Maldives National Defence Force (MNDF) expressed warm greetings upon his arrival at the VIA.
Commanding Officers of the participating ICG ships held discussions with Commandant MNDF CG to explore avenues of cooperative engagement.
Activities throughout the exercise will include joint sea exercises involving the Indian Coast Guard, Sri Lanka Coast Guard, and Maldives National Defence Force.
The 16th edition of the India-Maldives-Sri Lanka trilateral exercise ‘Dosti’ underscores regional synergy to enhance maritime security and interoperability, as highlighted by the Indian Mission in Maldives.
Participating in such exercises enables the Sri Lanka Navy to augment cooperation and interoperability with other maritime stakeholders in the region, fostering knowledge exchange, strategy sharing, and collaborative problem-solving for emerging maritime challenges in the Indian Ocean Region.
