Rear Admiral (RADM) David Colin Proctor, Chief of Royal New Zealand Navy is on an official visit to India from 19 – 27 Feb 2024. RAdm David Proctor interacted with Admiral R Hari Kumar, the Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy at New Delhi on 20 Feb 24. He was welcomed with the customary Guard of Honour on the South Block Lawns in New Delhi.

During the interaction, the Principals discussed avenues to strengthen bilateral maritime cooperation, including increased operational engagements, training exchanges and information sharing. RAdm David Proctor is scheduled to participate in Indian Navy’s Flagship Exercise MILAN 24 at Visakhapatnam and also undertake high level engagements at Western Naval Command.

Maritime cooperation between Indian Navy (IN) and Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) has witnessed significant growth since CNS visit to New Zealand in Oct 2022. The visit marked conclusion of Technical Arrangement on White Shipping Information Exchange. Further, warships from both the Navies have been making regular port calls at each other’s ports, last being port calls by INS Kolkata and INS Sahyadri at Auckland and Wellington in Sep 23. IN ships also conducted PASSEX with RNZN and RNZAF in the Tasman Sea post Departure.