Visakhapatnam: President Ram Nath Kovind on Friday awarded Presidential Colours to the submarine arm of Indian Navy that is celebrating its golden jubilee, at Eastern Naval Command (ENC) here. The Navy is celebrating 2017 as the ‘Year of the Submarine.’
The President, who is also Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, on his maiden visit to a naval formation was given a 21-gun salute upon his arrival at the ENC headquarters. He inspected a guard of honour at the INS Circars parade ground.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr Kovind appreciated the submarine arm for carrying out their professional responsibility with great skill and grave risk, and making the nation proud by its contribution to national security. Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba and Vice-Admiral Karambir Singh, among other senior officers, were present on the occasion.
Addressing naval officers and other services personnel after presenting the Colour, the President said the Navy’s submarine arm was playing a major role not only in safeguarding national security but also has a hand in nation-building by guarding trade routes, given that close to 90 per cent of the trade by value is carried out by the sea route.
Mr Kovind said India has been a maritime nation for thousands of years, citing the port town of Lothal in Gujarat that can be traced back to the Harappan civilisation and its familiarity with the ancient tradition of trade by the sea.
He also spoke of the Chola empire and subsequently the Maratha rulers led by Chhatrapati Shivaji having a well-developed navy and a maritime defence strategy.
Congratulating the officers and men of the submarine arm, Mr Kovind said the submarine arm has grown from a couple of subs in the late 1960s to as many as 25 submarines, commissioned at various points since then. The commissioning of the first submarine, INS Kalvari on December 8, 1967, marked the beginning of the Navy’s submarine arm.
Submarines are complex, high-technology platforms. They acquire their strength from stealth. Quietly and without much fanfare, Indian Navy submarines have had major operational achievements – in the 1971 War, during Operation Vijay in 1999 and then Operation Parakram, 2002, the President said.
