Rear Admiral David Proctor, Chief of Navy, Royal New Zealand Navy is on an official visit to India from February 19–27, 2024. Rear Admiral David Proctor interacted with Admiral R. Hari Kumar, the Chief of the Naval Staff, Indian Navy at New Delhi on February 20, 2024. He was welcomed with the customary Guard of Honour on the South Block Lawns.

During the interaction, the Principals discussed avenues to strengthen bilateral maritime cooperation, including increased operational engagements, training exchanges and information sharing. Rear Admiral David Proctor is scheduled to participate in Indian Navy’s Flagship Exercise MILAN 24 at Visakhapatnam and also undertake high level engagements at Western Naval Command.

Maritime cooperation between IN and RNZN has witnessed significant growth since CNS visit to New Zealand in October 2022. The visit marked conclusion of Technical Arrangement on White Shipping Information Exchange. Further, warships from both the Navies have been making regular port calls at each other’s ports, last being port calls by INS Kolkata and INS Sahyadri at Auckland and Wellington in September 2023. IN ships also conducted PASSEX with RNZN and RNZAF in the Tasman Sea post Departure.