President visits India’s aircraft carrier INS Vickramdithya

President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday visited INS Vikramaditya, India’s largest warship and aircraft carrier, in the port of Colombo.

The Sri Lankan President was received on board by Rear Admiral Ranveet Singh, NM, Flag Officer Commanding, Western Fleet and Captain Krishna Swaminathan, Commanding Officer of the ship.

The President was awarded a Guard of Honour while the Indian Navy band played the Sri Lanka and Indian national anthems.

The Commander of the Sri Lankan Navy, Vice Admiral Ravindra C. Wijegunaratne and the Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka Y.K. Sinha accompanied the President on his visit. This was President Sirisena’s first visit to a foreign warship after assuming office in January 2015.

INS Vickramaditya is a Russian made aircraft carrier, which was modernised at a cost of $ 2.3 billion and inducted in the Indian Navy in 2013. This is ship’s first foreign port of call after being inducted into the Indian Navy.

INS Vickramaditya, meaning ‘brave as the sun,’ is 284 meters in length and 60 meters in width. The ship, which can carry 36 fighter aircraft, has 22 decks. The ship with a complement of 1,700 personnel has an endurance of 7,000 nautical miles. The long range air surveillance radar and modern electronic warfare equipment give the ship the capability of maintaining a 500 km surveillance bubble. The ship has 30 MiG-29K fighter aircraft and 6 Kamov Ka-31 helicopters onboard.

The President toured the ship and observed the facilities onboard. He signed the Visitors Book on completion of the visit.

India and Sri Lanka defence and bilateral ties have significantly improved with the election of President Sirisena in January 2015. Defence cooperation between the two countries has been characterised by mutual training exercises, exchanges at functional level, cooperation in maritime security and humanitarian assistance.