Vice Ad Mark Hammond, Chief of the Royal Australian Navy, visits India

Australian Navy Chief Vice Admiral Mark Hammond arrived in New Delhi on April 2, 2024 on his five-day official visit to India. During this visit, he held bilateral talks with Indian Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar in New Delhi.

• The Australian Navy Chief is in New Delhi during his visit to India from 02 to 06 April 2024.

Purpose of the visit of the Chief of Royal Australian Navy:

• One of the main objectives of the visit of Royal Australian Navy Chief Vice Admiral Mark Hammond to India is to improve the strategic cooperation between the two countries.
• The focus of the talks between the Naval Chiefs of the two countries was on opportunities to strengthen bilateral maritime cooperation. These opportunities mainly include the following points:
  • Operational Support
  • Training Exchange
  • Information Sharing etc.

Australian Navy Chief Mark Hammond's New Delhi event:

• On April 3, 2024, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond laid a ceremonial wreath at the National War Memorial.
• He was then welcomed with a ceremonial Guard of Honor presented by the Indian Navy at South Block, New Delhi.
• During his visit the Australian Navy Chief will also meet the Army Chief, Air Force Chief and Defense Secretary in New Delhi.
• Vice Admiral Mark Hammond is scheduled to visit the Southern Naval Command (in Kochi) and Western Naval Command (in Mumbai) of the Indian Navy.
• During this, Mark Hammond will talk to the concerned Commander-in-Chief. He will also visit INS Vikrant, Drone Simulator, ND (MBI) and M/s MDL.

Strategic cooperation between India and Australia:

• India and Australia share a common vision on many contemporary maritime security issues in the Indo-Pacific region. India and Australia cooperate together on various fora in the defense sector, working together in many bilateral and multilateral fora. Mainly among these are the following:
  • Indian Ocean Naval Seminar (IONS)
  • Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA)
  • Western Pacific Naval Seminar (WPNS)
  • ASEAN Defense Ministers' Meeting Plus (ADMM Plus)
  • QUAD Group

Future of India-Australia defense relationship:

• The meeting marks the successful participation of the Royal Australian ship HMNAS Warramunga during MILAN 2024.
• The visit of the Australian Navy Chief, coming on the heels of the recent maritime exercises, will further reinforce the strong and long-standing bilateral relations between the navies of the two countries.
• Therefore, in the coming years, both the countries are ready to jointly face the security challenges arising in the Indo-Pacific region.
• MILAN 24 is the 12th edition of the biennial multilateral naval exercise held off Visakhapatnam under the auspices of the Eastern Naval Command. It was organized in the first week of March 2024.
• The central objective of MILAN 24 is to enhance professional interaction between friendly navies and to gain experience in multilateral large force operations at sea.
• The MILAN exercise began in 1995 with the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The navies of Indonesia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Thailand participated in this first edition.