Dedicates INS Vikramaditya to nation, says warship is ‘new milestone’
India’s Russia-made largest aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya was on Saturday dedicated to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who pitched for making the country self-reliant in manufacturing defence equipment and even capable of exports.
In his first outing after taking charge as Prime Minister about three weeks back, he travelled on the warship in the Arabian Sea and addressed the naval personnel onboard, calling the addition of INS Vikramaditya as a “historic” step and a “new milestone in our strategic capability”.
Mr Modi, who was briefed by the top naval officers and given an air power demonstration, underlined that national security and defence forces are priority areas for his government.
“The Vikramaditya is being dedicated to the nation and a strong step has been taken in strengthening India’s security.... I was told that 1680 troops and several aircraft can be deployed on this carrier and this is a new milestone in our strategic capability,” he said while addressing the jawans on board the 44,500 tonnes warship.
INS Vikramaditya, a refitted version of Admiral Gorshkov which was sold to India by Russia for $2.3 billion, was handed over to India on November 16, 2014, after a delay of five years.
Mr Modi said while several promises have been made in the past, his government has come with “both promises and intention to fulfil them”.
Referring to India’s tag of being the largest importer of defence equipment, Mr Modi said the situation has to be changed.
“We have slowly entered the field of building strategic systems. For a country like India to depend on others and imports weapon for security even so many years of independence, we have to get rid of this situation,” he said.
“Not only should we become self-reliant, we also should provide them (defence equipment) to small countries. The small countries should feel secure that the they have India-produced defence equipment,” Mr Modi said.
“It is an important day for our nation. It is a golden day in Indian Navy’s history. For me, it is a matter of pride and happiness that INS Vikramaditya is joining the Navy. It is a historic step,” the Prime Minister said.
Stressing on the need for self-reliance in defence equipment manufacturing, he said, “We need to give immense importance to latest technology. This will help the nation. Why should we import defence equipment? We must be self sufficient. Why can’t we send our defence equipment to other nations.”
India imports over 65 per cent of its defence systems to meet its requirements and to promote indigenous manufacturing, the Modi government has initiated several measures such as further opening up of the FDI in defence sector.
“Our country has the potential to match anyone in the world and the reason for this is the capability of our soldiers who give us the strength to do so,” he said.