The two sides share commonality of perspectives on several contemporary maritime security issues in the Indo-Pacific

India's Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) Admiral R Hari Kumar visited Australia earlier this week and held talks with top officers of the country's naval and air forces on collaborating in areas of mutual interest.

According to the Indian Navy, during a meeting with Australian Chief of Navy Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, he reviewed progress of ongoing maritime engagements & discussed ways to strengthen Indian Navy-Australian Navy partnership in the Indo-Pacific.

"Adm R Hari Kumar #CNS on his first official visit to #Australia, was hosted by VAdm Mark Hammond @CN_Australia. Both leaders reviewed progress of ongoing #maritime engagements & discussed ways to strengthen #IndianNavy-@Australian_Navy partnership in #IndoPacific," the Indian Navy said on Twitter on Thursday.

The visit from September 26-28 was his first to Australia after being appointed CNS.

In addition to Vice Admiral Hammond, he also met Vice Admiral David Johnston, Vice Chief of the Australian Defense Forces, Greg Moriarty, Secretary of Defense, Air Marshal Robert Chipman, Chief of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF), and Air Vice Marshal Mike Kitcher, Deputy Chief of Joint Operations.

"During these meetings, the leaders expressed their commitment to pursue collaborative activities in several areas of bilateral convergence," India's Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.

Later, Admiral R. Hari Kumar inspected the RAN's facilities at the Hydrographic School and HMAS Penguin. Additionally, he also talked with well-known Australian think tank members to comprehend and establish the new potential for maritime collaboration.

According to the ministry, the discussions also highlighted the need for raising the level of synergy and focused efforts for overcoming the challenges of the maritime environment.

India and Australia share commonality of perspectives on several contemporary maritime security issues in the Indo-Pacific. They have been working together closely in several bilateral and multilateral fora such as the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS), the defence ministry pointed out.

"Coming on the heels of successful participation of Indian Naval Ship Satpura and one P8I Maritime Patrol Aircraft of Indian Navy in the recently concluded multilateral exercise KAKADU, hosted by the RAN at Darwin, the visit of the CNS further consolidated the strong and long standing bilateral relations between two countries," the ministry added.