New Delhi: Aiming to further augment the operational level interaction and capacity building in areas of Search and Rescue, Pollution Response and Maritime Law Enforcement, a high level meeting between the Indian and Japanese Coast Guards held here.
Indian Coast Guard Director General K Natarajan hosted a seven member delegation of the Japanese Coast Guard led by Commandant Admiral Takahiro Okushima here, an official said.
The meeting would conclude on January 17 and is being conducted under the provisions of the Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) signed between the two agencies in 2006.
Newer areas of cooperation, HNS, chemical spills response and training on specialised field of ICG operation were discussed, he added.
The relations between the two Coast Guards go back a long way with ICG ships calling on ports in Japan for professional interactions since 2000.
This meeting and visit is in continuation of the efforts by the Governments of the two countries to enhance cooperation between the two Coast Guards in the field of combating transnational maritime crime enhancing National security, the official said.
During the meeting, both sides agreed to strengthen the mutual cooperation.
In the meeting they agreed of sharing the best management practices and continuation of personnel exchange.
It is important to mention here that the Japanese Coast Guard Ship, Echigo arrived Chennai on January to participate in the joint exercise that is scheduled on January 16.
Director General Indian Coast Guard and the Commandant Japan Coast Guard will be travelling to Chennai to oversee the joint exercise.
