Thursday, May 11 2006 10:15 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Washington: The Indian and United States Navies should go beyond 'exercises' and look to expanding the relationship to enchance inter-operability for providing security, US Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Gary Roughead has said.

Praising the 'professionalism' of the Indian Navy, the Admiral, who is coming next week to India, said here yesterday that both the forces should not "Simply be thinking in terms of this exercise or that exercise but as two very capable navies. How do we operate in the region; what are some of our shared objectives and interests that we have. How should our leadership interact and what should our agenda be."

The Admiral who emphasised inter-operability as the "most important priority" between the two navies, said his discussions with the top Naval brass in New Delhi would include sharing of technology and policy and he may also talk about arms procurement by the Indian Navy.

"My priorities in the discussions. The first thing that is important is how do we make sure we are able to share information from both a technical and also a policy point of view, .. It is from that sharing of information that opens up the opportunities to work in areas such as maritime security. Before you can do any type of operation you really have to have a common understanding," he told sources.

Making the point that such sharing should not be limited to just the time of joint operations, he said that it should be such "That our navies operate in a way, are equipped in a way that when we come to operate it is always automatic".