Cadex 2009

Cadex 2009 was a military training exercise involving the Indian Navy, Sri Lanka Navy and the Indian Coast Guard. The three-day-long training exercise was held from 6 October to 8 October 2009. Training exercises between the two countries had been held annually, but this had been delayed because of the Sri Lankan Civil War. It was also the first training exercise between the two navies since the end of the war.

The Indian vessels that participated in the Cadex 2009 exercises were INS Shardul, a landing ship tank of the India Navy and INCGS Varuna, an offshore patrol vessel of the Indian Coast Guard. The offshore patrol vessels SLNS Sayura and SLNS Samudura, along with the transport vessel A521 were the participating vessels from the Sri Lanka Navy.

The Indian Navy was invited for the exercises by Vice Admiral Thisara Samarasinghe, the Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy. Cadex 2009 was initiated despite accusations from some Indian media that the Sri Lanka Navy had killed more than 50 South Indian fishermen. The plans for the exercise were not revealed until the day the Indian cadets arrived in Sri Lanka.

The Indian cadets who participated in the exercise were from the 1st Training Squadron, based in Kochi. They arrived at the Colombo Harbour on 5 October 2009 aboard the INS Krishna and the two vessels that participated in the exercise, Shardul and Varuna.

Cadex 2009 was intended to provide an opportunity for the Sri Lankan cadets to train on board Indian ships and to "enhance and exchange knowledge". The Indian cadets, in turn, were to "familiarize themselves with (Sri Lankan) tri-forces military training institutions" and also to visit places of historical and cultural value in order to "strengthen the ties between the two countries".

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Wikipedia