Commander Kenya Navy, Major General Paul Otieno, recently made an official visit to India marking a significant step in enhancing Defence cooperation between Kenya Navy and Indian Navy. Major General Otieno was received by Indian Navy Chief of Naval Staff (CNS), Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, at the lawns of South Block in New Delhi, and accorded a Guard of Honour.
The two Navy chiefs engaged in bilateral talks on maritime issues of mutual concern including maritime cooperation, regional maritime security challenges, training cooperation, information exchange and capacity building. Their deliberations reinforced the shared commitment of Kenya and India to regional maritime security, peace and stability within the Western Indian Ocean. This was a follow up on the joint maritime vision code named ‘‘BAHARI’’ issued in December 2023 by His Excellency President William Ruto and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Major General Otieno also made courtesy calls to the India’s Defence Secretary Shri Rajesh Kumar Singh and to the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) General Upendra Dwivedi. He reiterated Kenya’s commitment to collective response to regional maritime security challenges and appreciated the unique contribution of the Indian Navy in the security and stability of the Indian ocean region.
In recognition of the important role played by Indian fallen heroes, Maj Gen Otieno laid a wreath at the National War Memorial.
He also visited the Information Fusion Centre for the Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in Gurugram, where he attended the induction ceremony of Major Brian Twalah, the first International Liaison Officer representing Kenya and the Djibouti Code of Conduct/Jeddah Amendment (DCoC/JA) at the IFC-IOR.
As part of efforts to deepen naval training cooperation, Major General Otieno toured key Indian Navy training establishments under the Southern Naval Command (SNC) in Kochi, including the Navigation Direction School, Communication School, Seamanship school, Indian Navy Hospital, INS SANJIVANI and Indian Navy Ship KABRA.
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