Koehler visited the Information Fusion Center – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) in New Delhi for a command brief and tour, and met with several senior Indian and U.S. government officials to discuss the importance of maritime security and interoperability between naval forces, especially in the critical Indian Ocean region, including:
● Defense Secretary, Honorable Giridhar Aramane
● Chief of the Naval Staff Adm. Dinesh Kumar Tripathi
● Commander in Chief, Eastern Naval Command, Vice Adm. Rajesh Pendharkar
● U.S. Ambassador to India, Honorable Eric Garcetti
● Consul General of the U.S. in Hyderabad, Jennifer Larson
● Military Advisor to the National Security Council Secretariate, Air Marshal (Ret) Sandeep Singh
● Maritime Security Advisor to the National Security Council Secretariate, Vice Adm. (Ret) G. Ashok Kumar
While in Visakhapatnam, Koehler attended the opening ceremony for the Malabar 2024 exercise, hosted by India Eastern Naval Command Commander-in-Chief Vice Adm. Rajesh Pendharkar, and attended by Royal Australian Navy Fleet Commander Rear Adm. Chris Smith, and Commander in Chief Japan Self Defense Fleet Vice Adm. Katsushi Omachi. The exercise, in its 28th iteration, is taking place in and around Visakhapatnam, India, and the Bay of Bengal, and is focused on high-end warfighting and demonstrating interchangeability between Australian, Indian, Japanese and U.S. forces.
The visit to India emphasized the U.S. commitment to strengthening alliances and partnerships for an Indo-Pacific that is free and open, connected, prosperous, secure, and resilient.