India’s aircraft carrier INS Vikrant reaches Sri Lanka, to take part in International Fleet Review

New Delhi: India’s first indigenously built aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, has reached Sri Lanka ahead of an International Fleet Review (IFR) that will be celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Sri Lankan Navy. The warship, accompanied by the frigate INS Udayagiri, will be taking part in the IFR and was greeted with a ceremonial welcome that showed the strong maritime and defence partnership between the two neighbours.

At a reception hosted aboard INS Vikrant by Indian High Commissioner Santosh Jha, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Health and Mass Media, Dr Nalinda Jayatissa, served as chief guest. In his address, the minister described the carrier’s presence as a strong message of shared security and strengthening of friendly relations.

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“The participation of INS Vikrant and INS Udayagiri speaks volumes of the significance India places on its longstanding relationship with Sri Lanka,” Dr Jayatissa said. He linked the visit to India’s “MAHASAGAR” (Mutual and Holistic Advancement for Security and Growth Across Regions) vision, which emphasises cooperation, connectivity, and collective maritime security across the Indian Ocean Region.

“Sri Lanka is committed to ensuring that the Indian Ocean remains a region of peace, stability, and mutually beneficial engagement,” he added, highlighting decades of joint naval exercises, coordinated patrols, hydrographic surveys, disaster response, and capacity-building initiatives. The minister noted that both countries face common challenges, from piracy and narcotics trafficking to climate-related risks and humanitarian emergencies, making bilateral and regional collaboration “more vital than ever.”

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The International Fleet Review, scheduled for 30 November, will see foreign warships join the Sri Lankan fleet in a grand naval parade off Colombo. Participating nations include Bangladesh, India, Iran, Maldives, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Russia. The vessels will render a ceremonial salute to Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who is also Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. For India, the deployment of its flagship carrier, commissioned in 2022 after years of indigenous development, carries both symbolic and strategic weight.

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It follows recent high-level visits and agreements aimed at bolstering economic and security ties, particularly after Sri Lanka’s 2022 financial crisis, when India extended over $4 billion in assistance. Above all, the visit of INS Vikrant reflects a broader effort by New Delhi to reinforce partnerships in its immediate maritime neighbourhood at a time of heightened geopolitical challenges like piracy, unregulated fishing, terrorism concerns in the Indian Ocean.