Commander of the Navy, Vice Admiral Ravindra Wijegunaratne who is presently at Newport, Rhode Island, in the United States attending the 22nd International Seapower Symposium (ISS) from 21st to 23rd September met Admiral John M. Richardson, the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) of the US Navy and Admiral Scott H. Swift, the Commander US Pacific Fleet (COMPACFLT).
Commander of the Navy held discussions with CNO and COMPACFLT mainly pertaining to further improving ties between the two navies on a number of aspects including; present and future training, sharing expertise and experiences, maritime security challenges, and number of other aspects which are mutually beneficial.
The theme of this is year’s ISS-22 is ‘Stronger Maritime Partners’ which aims to deepen relationships with network of international navies and Coast Guards. The ISS is considered as the world’s capstone Seapower conference, bringing together chiefs of Navies around the world to exchange ideas and broaden international partnerships. Representatives from participating countries provided much valuable briefings, participating in panel discussions, and contributed to seminar sessions addressing regional and global maritime issues.
More than 80 Chiefs of Navies and 15 Chiefs of Coast Guards will gather to discuss the continued protection of open and free sea lanes during this year’s ISS-22. Director General Operations Rear Admiral Dharmendra Wettewa, and the Personal Secretary and Aide to the Commander of the Navy Captain Buddhika Liyanagame, accompanied the Commander of the Navy to the symposium.