Visakhapatnam, Dec 02: Efforts are on to increase the number of warships being owned by the Indian Navy from existing 135 to 160 by the year 2012, chief of the Eastern Naval Command, Vice Admiral O P Bansal said here. Talking to reporters on-board INS Sukany, he said that the role of the Indian Navy has become more important in today's context keeping in view the rise in the activities like illegal migration from neighbouring countries to the Indian soil, increase in the smuggling and piracy cases and others.
"More importantly the entire oil of the world was being transported from the Middle-East to the eastern countries via Indian Ocean and hence the requirement of strong navy here", he said.
Even though it was true that no such illegal activity was having support from their respective governments, the threat being posed by them was increasing day by day, he emphasised.
Favouring the Centre's plan to purchase the aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov he said after the decommissioning of INS Vikrant some four years back, the acute need was being felt by the Indian Navy to have at least three such aircraft carriers and it would be fulfilled to a bit once the proposed Russian aircraft carrier joins our fleet within next few years.
He also said there was a need to add more aircraft and warships to the Indian Navy.
Bureau Report