Cooperation betweeen Indian and Singapore Navies underlined

Visakhapatnam: Silver Jubilee Commemoration Ceremony to mark the 25th edition of SIMBEX, “Singapore-India Maritime Bilateral Exercise” was held onboard INS Sahyadri on Monday.  

The ceremony was attended by Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chief of Naval Staff and Rear Admiral Lew Chuen Hong, Chief of Navy Republic of Singapore, Vice Admiral Karambir Singh, Chief of Eastern Naval Command, Flag Officers, Commanding Officers and personnel from participating ships.  

Speaking on the occasion, Admiral Sunil Lanba highlighted that SIMBEX is the longest uninterrupted bilateral maritime exercise that India had with any navy.  The importance of the achievement was also stressed by the Prime Minister at the Shangri La Dialogue in last June.

He reiterated that naval cooperation through SIMBEX underscores the shared commitment of both nations to security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the global commons.

The 25th edition of SIMBEX is the largest in terms of complexity, weapon firings and maritime geography. He concluded by reminding the audience the motto of the Republic of Singapore Navy ‘Beyond Horizon’ while that of the Indian Navy ‘Sam No Varunah’ (May the Ocean Gods be Auspicious Unto Us)’.  

Addressing the gathering, Rear Admiral Lew Chuen Hong, Chief of Navy Republic of Singapore Navy referred to the historic maritime links through maritime trade of both countries dating back to 3rd and 4th century. He brought out that Singapore and India are like-minded countries that share similar outlook towards preserving freedom of sea following rules and norms laid down in UNCLOS.  

He highlighted the special relations that both navies have through substantive interactions. The corner stone for Navy-Navy relations is SIMBEX which stated as a basic anti-submarine exercise in 1994 as ‘Lion King’ has grown from strength to strength. The 25th edition is the largest ever participation by the Singapore Navy in any bilateral exercises, he added. 

Rear Admiral Dinesh K Tripathi, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet welcomed the guests. To mark the historic occasion and as a symbol of growing trust and comfort levels between the two navies, a special logo was also released. The occasion was also utilised to simultaneous release of special postal cover and Singaporean Postage Stamp on SIMBEX.