Sri Lanka, India in first joint naval exercise

India and Sri Lanka on Wednesday conducted their first ever, joint naval exercises off the island's western coast, carrying out various maneuvers including professional fleet management and transfer of personnel between ships.

Two Indian navy ships, INS Sukanya and INS Kirpan, together with an Indian Navy helicopter and a Donnier aircraft participated with three Sri Lankan navy ships, a gunboat and a fast attack craft, navy spokesman Jayantha Perera.

"This is the first time we are doing a joint exercise with the Indian navy," he told PTI. Sri Lanka had conducted a similar exercise recently with India's coastguard, he added.

"Today we carried out professional fleet management, transfer of personnel from one ship to another and some other maneuvers," Perera said.

The exercise was carried out in the Indian Ocean about 30 kilometres off the coast of Colombo, he added.