Naval manoeuvres over the ‘warm waters’ of the Indo-Pacif ic region
While President Ranil Wickremesinghe commissioned the offshore Patrol Vessel P627 as the most recent inclusion to the fleet of the Sri Lanka Navy as SLNS ‘Vijayabahu’ at the Colombo Port this week, the third such ship donated by the US Government, Sri Lanka’s newly appointed Ambassador in Japan, Rodney Perera who is yet to present his credentials formally to the Emperor got the unique opportunity to meet with the Japanese Prime Minister, its Defence Minister and Naval Chiefs of key Asian countries when he attended by invitation the International Fleet Review on JS IZUMO at Sagami Bay.
The IZUMO, the largest Japanese naval vessel and a helicopter/light aircraft carrier, has visited Sri Lanka before.
During the event, Ambassador Perera was able to have brief interactions with Japanese Premier Fumio Kishida, Defence Minister Yasukazu Hazama, and the Vice Defence Minister Kimi Onoda.
At another event to mark the conclusion of the Western Pacific Naval Symposium (WPNS) in Yokohama that brought together the chiefs of 27 navies, Ambassador Perera had the opportunity to meet with host Admiral Ryo Sakai, Chief of Staff, Maritime Self Defence Force, Admiral R. Hari Kumar, Chief of Naval Staff of India, Admiral Muhammad Amjad Khan Niazi, Chief of Naval Staff of Pakistan and Vice Admiral Wang Dazhong of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, along with Rear Admiral Neville Amara Ubayasiri of the Sri Lanka Navy.
Seems like a lot is happening over the ‘warm waters’ of the IndoPacific region.