By IANS
New Delhi : British Army chief Gen. Richard Dannatt arrived here Monday on a six-day visit that is aimed at ramping up military-to-military ties between the two countries.
During his visit, Dannatt, who is designated Chief of General Staff, will interact with the senior military and civilian defence hierarchy to “discuss defence related issues and prospects for future cooperation between our two armies”, a defence ministry statement said.
Defence Secretary Vijay Singh, Indian Army chief Gen. Deepak Kapoor, Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta, and Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal Fali Homi Major will be among those Dannatt will meet.
In addition, visits to Indian Army field formations in Jaipur, Srinagar and Agra and to prestigious army establishments have also been planned.
While in Jammu and Kashmir, Dannatt will visit the Line of Control (LOC) for a briefing on the steps the Indian Army is taking to control the infiltration of militants from across the border.
“The visit reconfirms the mutual trust and friendship between the two armies and will provide the necessary fillip to our on-going army-to-army cooperation,” the statement said.
The visit “comes at a time when our cooperation with the British Army is at an all time high”, the statement added.
The joint activities between the two armies encompass visits, joint exercises, training exchanges and participation in seminars and conferences.
The armies conducted their first joint war game last month during which a detachment of the Royal Marines exercised with the elite paratroopers of the Indian Army at Leh in Ladakh.
The exercise simulated a counter-terrorism operation against guerrillas holed up in mountain hideouts.
There are reports that the exercise was meant to prepare the Royal Marines for their deployment with the US-led coalition forces in Iraq.
Meanwhile, the 10th meeting of the India-France high-powered committee on defence cooperation has been postponed due to “technical reasons”.
“Some members of the French delegation could not arrive on time and so we had to defer the meeting,” an official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.