25th IMBL Meeting held onboard INS Savitri

The 25th International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL) meeting between the representatives of Navies and Coast Guards of Sri Lanka and India was held onboard Indian Naval Ship Savitri at the Indo-Sri Lanka Maritime Boundary Line off Kankasanthurai on 7th October 2015.

The Sri Lankan delegation was headed by the Commander Northern Naval Area, Rear Admiral Piyal De Silva whilst the Indian delegation was headed by Naval Officer-in-Charge (Tamil Nadu & Puducherry) Commodore Alok Bhatnagar. Both delegations consisted of officers specialized in diversified fields.

The annual Indo-Sri Lanka IMBL meeting provides an opportunity to exchange views and ideas with regard to operational effectiveness through common understanding of the Navies and Coast Guards of the neighbors. As far as the 25th meeting is concerned, maintaining effective maritime security in the region by integration of forces through co-operation, coordination and collaboration was the primary focus. Mutual understanding of limitations and capabilities of forces to enhance service interoperability and system compatibility in countering challenges in time to come and setting up a viable mechanism for information sharing at tactical level also were important points of discussion at the meeting.