As China has stepped up its presence in strategically important Indian Ocean Region(IOR), India is keeping a close watch on it, Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said here on Friday. He also said at any given time, six to eight Chinese warships are in the region besides Chinese research vessels and fishing boats.
Assuring that the Indian Navy is cognizant of these vessels, he said “we do keep an eye in the Indian Ocean region and what they are up to” adding the Navy is constantly revising its plans to these challenges.
Admiral Kumar made these observations during the media conference here on the occasion of the Navy Day on December four. He outlined the Navy’s readiness when asked about Chinese presence in the Indian Ocean region and assistance to Pakistan Navy to have at least 50 warships.
On the issue of women officers in the force, he said the Navy has appointed the first woman commanding officer on a warship. He, however, refrained from disclosing her name as she is undergoing pre commissioning training. She will command a fast attack craft on the western seaboard, the Navy chief said.
e also said since the implementation of Agnipath scheme in the armed forces last year, nearly 1,000 women Agniveers have joined the Navy. The Navy chief said the force follows the dictum “all roles-all ranks.”On the operational side of the Navy, he said ships, submarines, and aircraft have sustained a high operational tempo in the strategic waters in the last one year.
“Our ships, submarines, and aircraft have sustained a high operational tempo - undertaking missions and tasks encompassing military, diplomatic, constabulary and benign roles,” he said.
“Our units were mission deployed across the Indian Ocean Region and beyond, to protect and promote our national interests,” he said.
The Navy has “remained a ‘Combat-ready, Credible, Cohesive, and Future Proof’ force enabled by what we call our ‘ships first’ outlook where every single action that we take is aimed to enable our women and men in operational units to perform their duties very well,” the Navy chief said. The Navy’s footprint of deployments has been satisfying as its ships have been persistently present across the Indo Pacific.
Underlining the importance of self-reliance, Admiral Kumar said at present Indian shipyards are building 65 of the 67 warships. These capabilities had their origin in the 1960s and the latest example is induction of the indigenously built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant, he said only six or seven nations have the expertise to build aircraft carriers.
Stressing upon indigenisation, the Navy chief said the ongoing Ukraine conflict has disrupted logistics supply chain and some countries are facing challenge