Visakhapatnam: The President’s Fleet Review, a splendid and much-awaited event, conducted at Vizag on Monday.
President Ram Nath Kovind, who is also the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, reviewed the Naval Fleet comprising over 60 ships and submarines, and 55 aircraft.
During his speech, President Kovind mentioned about the Vizag’s strategic importance, saying, “it has made a glorious contribution in 1971 war.” “I recall the heroic action of the Eastern Naval Command in the naval blockade of the then East Pakistan and the sinking of Pakistan’s submarine ‘Ghazi’. That was a decisive blow to Pakistan. The 1971 war remains one of the most emphatic victories in our history. Officers and sailors, India believes in ‘Security and Growth for All in the Region’ to focus on cooperative measures for sustainable use of oceans,” President said.
President Kovind also underlined Indian Navy’s ‘Mission SAGAR’ and ‘Samudra Setu’ “During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Indian Navy has been providing aid to friendly nations by supplying medicines and evacuating stranded Indian citizens and foreign nationals in different parts of the world under these missions.”
“The prompt and effective deployment of the Indian Navy in the times of crisis has underscored India’s vision of being the ‘Preferred Security Partner’ and ‘First Responder’ in the Indian Ocean Region. I am happy to note that the Indian Navy is becoming increasingly self-reliant and has been at the forefront of the ‘Make in India’ initiative,” he added.
As 70 percent of the contents of several warships and submarines under construction in various public and private shipyards across the country are indigenous, President Kovind said, “It is matter of great pride that India has built nuclear submarines and soon we will have our indigenously built aircraft carrier, ‘Vikrant’, joining the service.”
“I was happy to inspect ‘Vikrant’ during my visit to Kochi in December last year. The development of indigenous naval shipbuilding capabilities is an impressive contribution to the making of an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’,” he said and conveyed his wishes for the forthcoming Multinational Naval Exercise — MILAN 2022.
