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Ship officials non-committal on nuclear weapons on board

USS Nimitz will dock within 16 km from the Chennai port

— PHOTO: PTI

CARRYING CONTROVERSY: An F/a-18 Hornet lands aboard USS Nimitz on Saturday as the warship was cruising its way to the Chennai port.

ON BOARD USS NIMITZ: As the nuclear-powered warship is set to arrive in Chennai, top officials of USS Nimitz CVN 68 refused to either “confirm or deny” the presence of nuclear weapons on board.

“We can neither confirm nor deny the presence of weapons on board the ship. The general U.S. policy is that we do not routinely deploy nuclear weapons on any of our ships, attack submarines or aircraft,” Rear Admiral John Terence Blake, Commander, Carrier Strike Group 11 of USS Nimitz, told newspersons on Saturday.

USS Nimitz, one of the biggest aircraft carriers in the world, will dock within 16 km from the Chennai port, according to another top official.

“We do not deploy [nuclear weapons] ‘routinely.’ We do not go into specifics. We are required to do a wide range of activities both offensive and defensive like humanitarian work. These are warships not cruise liners. But when we go out, we are required to perform a wide range of activities,” he said during the course of interaction on the ship, presently about 750 km from Chennai and 160 km from the Sri Lankan coast.

Capt. Michael C. Manazir, Commanding Officer, USS Nimitz, also toed the same line. “We can’t confirm the presence or absence of nuclear weapons on board.”

The statements come amid widespread protests from political parties and environmental agencies against the docking of the ship at the Chennai port between July 1-5 and the Defence Ministry clearing its arrival in Chennai.

The Communist Party of India is planning protest against the berthing of the ship at the port on Tuesday.

Ministry stand

Both the Defence Ministry and the U.S. Embassy had issued statements saying that there were no nuclear weapons on board the Nimitz.

“USS Nimitz is a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and is not known to be carrying weapons with nuclear warheads. It is not going to enter the on-shore or alongside berths in Chennai port but will be anchored in water some distance away from the land,” a Ministry statement said.

However, Capt. Manazir told reporters that “the Nimitz will be berthed a couple of miles from the port and permission has been given to anchor right of the port. In fact, you will be able to see the ship from the beach.”

The Nimitz was involved in “Operation Iraqi Freedom” and was supporting the coalition troops fighting in Iraq. “We are completely prepared to do both offensive and defensive operations at any moment.”

Capt. Manazir said the Airwing Commander of INS Viraat and 15 other officials of the Navy visited the ship on Thursday.

“It was a nice visit. We showed them our ship and answered their questions...It is about transparency.”

Both officials described the port call as a chance to further strengthen ties between the two navies and “fostering relationship with India.”

Community work

The crew members of the Nimitz will be involved in community work in Chennai, including cleaning up the Marina Beach, visiting old age homes and painting murals at a school. — PTI

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