Maldives defence minister visits HAL, proceeds to Belgaum

He later visited the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) and was shown around the facilities by R Sreenivasan, Managing  Drector, Helicopter Division. Faisal also visited the aircraft division and saw the export hangar, which houses the Jaguar/Hawk final assembly shop.

This was followed by a briefing on the Intermediate Jet Trainer prototype. The minister was also shown the advanced light helicopter (ALH) prototype.

The Government of India would be soon transferring to the Maldives a ‘Dhruv’ helicopter, manufactured by the HAL, for use by the Maldives National Defence Force.

The Maldives Defence Minister will now proceed to Belgaum where the armies of India and the Maldives are holding a joint counter-terrorism exercise.

The exercise comes close on the heels of Defence Minister A K Antony’s visit to the island country, a couple of months ago. The Maldives Defence Minister is on a six day visit to India from October 26.