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Modernisation to enhance Navy's fighting prowess

Sandeep Dikshit

During peacetime, it will evolve into a powerful instrument of state policy

. — Photo: PTI/ Manvender V. Love

GROWING BLUE-WATER NAVY: Defence Minister A.K. Antony and Chief of the Naval Staff Sureesh Mehta witnessing the display of the Navy's might from INS Viraat on the Arabian Sea on Thursday.

ABOARD INS VIRAAT: Defence Minister A.K. Antony on Friday said the modernisation of the Navy "in the recent past" was aimed at not only enhancing its war fighting capabilities but also its evolving into a "powerful instrument of state policy" during peacetime.

"In tandem with the Ministry of External Affairs, we have been making attempts to reach out to our Indian Ocean neighbourhood and beyond. Our effort has been to build bridges of friendship as well as lasting relationships," he told over 1,500 sailors assembled on India's sole aircraft carrier sailing in the Arabian Sea.

Mature naval power

Referring to the evacuation of over 2,000 people from Lebanon during the Israeli attack on Hizbollah, he said the operation showed to the world that India, only Asian nation to do so, had a truly blue-water Navy and also reinforced its image as a mature naval power.

Operation Sukoon, in which not only Indians but also Sri Lankans, Nepalese and Lebanese were evacuated from Beirut, is believed to the Navy's largest such operation since Independence.

During his 17-hour stay aboard the aircraft, the Navy's capabilities were showcased. Destroyers, frigates, fleet tankers and a lone submarine moved around Viraat as fighter jets took off from the upward sloping deck and helicopters showed their prowess in rescuing people from the high seas and tracking enemy submarines.

Thrilling interception

In a capping exercise at dead of night, the Israeli Barak missile intercepted another missile over the ocean. While one Indian ship fired a Russian missile, another sent two fast moving balls of fire, which rammed the hostile missile with precision. There was no need for another ship with Barak missiles at the ready to intervene.

Calling it "one of my most thrilling moments" and saying he was "proud" of the dedication and sacrifices of the sailors, the Minister felt that the Navy must expend its capability to protect sea lanes to the east and west.

"We must arrive at workable alliances with like-minded countries for our commercial and energy security," he said and referred to a recent agreement with Thailand for joint patrolling on the lines of an earlier effort with the Indonesian Navy. India was now establishing closer ties with Singapore and Vietnam.

The Navy had a healthy shipbuilding programme with 32 ships and six submarines on order at various public sector dockyards. This included the full spectrum of warship building; patrol boats, corvettes, landing ships, frigates and destroyers and an indigenous aircraft carrier.

Besides attending to the Navy's material needs, he heard the sailors and assured them that the Government would sympathetically address their problems.

While the bulk of the exercise took place after the ship sailed on Thursday from Karwar, the country's newest naval base in Karnataka, Friday morning saw Mr. Antony, along with Chief of the Naval Staff Sureesh Mehta and other senior officials, embarking on another warship, with others led by Viraat steaming past.

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