The Navy has maintained a high tempo of operations and established a credible and responsive presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) through ‘mission based deployments’, thereby reaffirming its position as the ‘preferred security partner’ in the IOR, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said.
On the prevailing security environment in the world, he stated that the ongoing Russia and Ukraine conflict had once again highlighted that being self-reliant without dependencies was a “vital necessity.”
Mr. Singh referred to the fact that of the 41 ships and submarines which were on order, 39 were being built in Indian shipyards. While the Navy had been at the forefront of indigenisation, it was important to leverage on the momentum gained thus far, he noted.
