Navy Chief on Navy Day: The Indian Navy closely monitors every ship and activity of China in the Indian Ocean and is fully capable of safeguarding its national interests. Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar has given this assurance. Just a day before Navy Day, Admiral Hari Kumar was addressing the annual press conference in the capital Delhi.
During this, on the question of China’s spy ship being stationed in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean, the Navy Chief said that 4-6 Chinese ships operate in the IOR region at a time. Apart from this, fishing-vessels of China also live in the Indian Ocean. But the efforts of the Indian Navy are that Chinese ships do not enter the country’s EEZ (EEZ) i.e. Exclusive Economic Zone. He said that apart from China, about 60 ships of navies of other countries operate in the Indian Ocean at a time.
On the question of ABP News, how will India counter China’s increasing influence in the Indian Ocean and the increasing activities of China’s military-bases in countries like Djibouti, Admiral Hari Kumar said that India and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi Sagar i.e. Security and Growth for All in the Region (SAGAR- Security and Growth for All in the Region) policy has been formulated keeping this in view. Under this, even ships and helicopters have been provided to friendly countries. Apart from this, military infrastructure is also being prepared in the countries of the Indian Ocean.
India trains naval officers from friendly-foreign countries
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Navy Chief Hari Kumar said that in the last 15 years, India has trained 15,000 naval officers from friendly-foreign countries. This is increasing India’s influence in the Indian Ocean. On the question whether India is also considering making its new bases abroad. To that he replied that discussions are going on with the Ministry of External Affairs and other departments regarding this. Recently, the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) had expressed concern about the increasing military activities of China in the Indo-Pacific region.
Navy day
Indian Navy celebrates its Foundation Day every year on 4th December. This foundation day is celebrated in the memory of the attack on Pakistan’s Karachi port by the Navy in the 1971 war. For the first time this year, on December 4 (Sunday), Navy Day is being celebrated outside the capital Delhi in Visakhapatnam. But the annual press conference was held in the capital Delhi only.
operational readiness
Giving information about the operational preparedness of the Navy, Admiral Hari Kumar said that in the last one year, the warships of the Navy remained at sea for 8000 days, apart from this, submarines of the Navy were operating under the sea for 650 days. He told that the Navy’s aircraft (helicopters, fighter jets and reconnaissance aircraft) flew 10,000 hours in the last one year.
100 conflicts in India’s neighborhood
Regarding the preparations in the maritime domain of the Navy, Admiral Hari Kumar said that about 100 disputes with different countries are going on in the neighboring region of India or the situation of confrontation remains. In such a situation, the Navy will have to be ready to meet every challenge. Describing the indigenous aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant, which recently joined the Navy’s war fleet, as a historic step, the Chief of Naval Staff said that Vikrant will hoist the tricolor in the entire Indo-Pacific region in the coming times.
self reliance
Referring to the Russia-Ukraine war, the Navy Chief said that we cannot depend on any other country for our security. This is the reason that by 2047 the Navy will become completely self-sufficient.
New fighter aircraft to be deployed on Vikrant
The Navy Chief told that the indigenous fighter jet being prepared by HAL, TEDBF i.e. Twin-Engine Deck Best Fighter, will be able to become only by the year 2032. Along with this, the existing MiG-29’s are also stationed on Vikramaditya. In such a situation, till then the Navy can strike a deal to deploy a foreign fighter jet on Vikrant. For this, trials of Rafale (M) of France and Super-Hornet F-18A of America have been conducted recently. After the review of the trial report is completed, one of these two fighter aircraft will be selected.
Female-Agniveer
The Navy chief said that under the Agneepath scheme, the first batch of 3000 Agniveers have been inducted into the Navy and their training has started from 21 November at INS Chilka Naval Base in Odisha. Of these, 341 are women-Agniveer (Navy).
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