Admiral Sunil Lanba, Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Chief of the Naval Staff visited USA on a bilateral visit from March 19 to 23, 2018. The visit aimed to consolidate cooperation between the Armed Forces of both India and USA and also to explore new avenues of defence cooperation.

During his visit, the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee and the Chief of the Naval Staff held bilateral discussions with James Mattis, Secretary Defence (SECDEF) of USA, Richard V, Spencer, Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV), General Joseph F Dunford Jr, Vice Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff (Vice Chairman JCS), Admiral John M. Richardson, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), Admiral Harry Harris, Commander, Pacific Command (PACOM), Admiral Scott Swift, Commander, Pacific Fleet (PACFLT), and Vice Admiral Thomas J Moore, Commander, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA).

In addition to holding important bilateral discussions, the Admiral also visited the Pacific Command Headquarters at Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, the Naval Surface Warfare Centre (NSWC) Dahlgren, the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery in Washington DC.

India and USA have traditionally maintained close and friendly relations, including defence relation, wherein both countries have concluded major agreements in the recent past. This includes the Defence Framework Agreement, signed in 2015, which lays a blue print for collaboration between the defence establishments of both countries and the Logistics Exchange Memorandum of Agreement (LEMOA) signed in 2016, which is a foundational agreement, facilitating reciprocal logistics support between the Armed Forces of both countries. In addition, India was accorded Major Defence Partner status during the Prime Minister’s visit to US in June 2016.