New Delhi, Nov 14 — Rear Admiral Tanguy Botman, Belgian Navy Commander, is on an official visit to India aimed at strengthening bilateral maritime cooperation and further deepening Navy-to-Navy engagements between the two countries, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said on Saturday.
On arrival, Rear Admiral Botman paid homage to the fallen soldiers by laying a wreath at the National War Memorial and was thereafter accorded a ceremonial Guard of Honour at the South Block.
"During the visit, Rear Admiral Tanguy Botman held discussions with Admiral Krishna Swaminathan, Chief of the Naval Staff, on a range of issues of mutual interest, including maritime security, operational engagements, training, personnel exchanges and collaboration in naval technology. He also interacted with other senior officials to explore avenues for enhancing bilateral cooperation," the Ministry said in a statement.
Highlighting the significance of the visit, the MoD said, "India and Belgium share longstanding maritime linkages. The visit marks an important milestone in bilateral Navy-to-Navy relations and is expected to provide further impetus to maritime cooperation through strengthened existing engagements and exploration of new avenues for collaboration."
In September, Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever visited India, accompanied by the Belgian Minister of Defence and Foreign Trade, Theo Francken.
During the visit, the two governments signed a letter of intent on defence cooperation providing a formal institutional basis to the growing defence relationship.
India also announced the decision to appoint a Defence Attache to Brussels, complementing Belgium's placing a Defence Attache in New Delhi earlier this year.
On September 3, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh held a meeting with Francken in New Delhi and reviewed defence ties and defence industrial cooperation.
"India is a rapidly growing economy and a major military power in the Indo-Pacific. The country is also strategically located along some of the world's most important trade routes. For an open trading nation like Belgium, the security of these sea lanes is vital. At the same time, Europe's security is increasingly interconnected with developments in Asia," Francken had said.
Belgian technology for Indian programmes in maritime security is a key area of focus.
India wants to strengthen its capabilities in mine countermeasures, autonomous maritime systems, underwater robotics, advanced sensors and the protection of critical infrastructure, including ports, pipelines and subsea data cables.