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N-attack: Naval chief says India can strike back
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, JANUARY 16: IT was chief of naval staff Admiral
Madhvendra Singh’s turn today to assert that India possessed
a second strike capability though he avoided a direct question
on whether the Navy had the capability of launching a nuclear
strike.
‘‘Any
country that espouses the doctrine of no first use of nuclear
weapons must have a second strike capability. We have a triad
of weapons for a second strike and one of the triad is at
sea. The most powerful leg of the triad is in the Navy and
is hidden under water and moving,’’ he said.
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Admiral Madhvendra Singh
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He
said the Navy was ready for operations. ‘‘In accordance with
the Government directive, all the three wings are mobilised.
The warships are armed, provisioned and fully on stand two.’’
Getting a new aircraft carrier was the Navy’s most pressing
need, he said, speaking about plans and future acquisitions.
Pakistan’s
building of a new port with Chinese assistance at Gwadar did
not pose an immediate challenge to the Navy, he added. ‘‘It
will make it a little more difficult for the Navy but its
completion is still eight to 10 years away and it’s not an
immediate worry. They are yet to build roads and a railhead
there,’’ he said.
He
added that the Navy still possessed the capability to choke
the Karachi port and the new port. The naval chief said the
US presence in the Indian ocean region was complicating the
issue but only slightly since the ocean was large enough for
everyone to operate. ‘‘The US presence does not worry us.
Its a huge ocean out there. There is room for everybody. It
is customary that if there is a belligerence by two countries,
the party that is not involved stays away,’’ he said.
Admiral
Madhvendra Singh expressed the hope that the Malabar series
of naval exercises between the Indian and US navies would
kick off with at least the same level of interaction as existed
before the exercises were scrapped due to the Pokharan tests.
On supply of spares for Sea Kings and Sea Harriers stopped
due to the sanctions, he said the process should begin again.
‘The
Navy’s immediate need was to acquire an aircraft carrier and
submarine rescue vessels and improve its surveillance capabilities.
‘‘The navy is sold on indetermination,’’ he said. Its most
pressing need was finding a replacement for decommissioned
aircraft carrier INS Vikrant and planning for another one
to take the place of the ageing INS Viraat. Russian carrier
Gorshkov was the only choice since there was nothing else
that suited India’s needs. He said if the price negotiations
failed, indigenous production would be the only alternative.
The
Navy’s air defence ship project, for the building of an indigenous
aircraft carrier, had not been scrapped, he added. He said
the Navy would also require aircraft and in the future have
the Light Combat Aircraft. It was also planning for Il-38
and Tu-142 aircraft modernisation and wished to replace the
Sea King helicopters.
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