US Navy chief to arrive in Delhi Sunday

NEW DELHI - Ahead of the annual India-US naval ‘Malabar’ exercise, the chief of the US Navy, Admiral Dary Roughead, would arrive in New Delhi Sunday.

Roughead would be given a guard of honour at south block Monday. He would then meet Defence Minister A.K. Antony and chiefs of the armed forces.

He would also visit various naval establishments in Mumbai, Karwar and Kochi.

Roughead would leave India Friday.

“The visit is to further strengthen defence ties between the two countries. His visit comes just before the India-US naval exercises off Goa (April 22 to May 3),” a defence ministry official told IANS.

For the Malabar exercise, the Indian and US navies are deploying four big ships and a submarine each.

At present, Indian and Singapore navies are holding their annual exercise SIMBEX (Singapore Indian Maritime Bilateral Exercise) in two separate theatres — initially in the Andaman Sea and then in the Bay of Bengal.