Defence Minister Rajnath Singh today said the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict has again highlighted the pressing need for being self-reliant in the defence sector for defending the country’s sovereignty.

”The Indian Navy, which has been at the forefront of the ‘Aatma Nirbhar Bharat’ initiative of the government, continues to protect India’s maritime interests and enables a safe and secure environment in the region. The Navy has also established a credible and responsive presence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR),” he noted while addressing the Navy’s Commanders’ Conference.

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He was happy that in consonance with the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’ initiative, the Navy has re-invested over 64 per cent of its capital budget into the economy. ”I am told that the percentage share of modernisation budget is bound to grow up to 70 per cent towards indigenous procurement in this current financial year,” he added.

The defence minister commended the Navy on the commissioning of major Naval units since the last Commander’s Conference namely INS Visakhapatnam, the first ship of the P15B project, the fourth P75 submarine INS Vela and the Navy’s second P8I squadron INAS 316 at INS Hansa, Goa.

He also pointed out that out of the 41 ships and submarines which were on order, 39 were being built in Indian shipyards. “While the Navy has been at the forefront of indigenisation, it is important for us to leverage on the momentum that we have gained thus far.

He urged the senior leadership of the force to maintain focus on futuristic capability development to ensure that the nation’s maritime power grew in tandem with India’s economic interests.

Rajnath noted that the Indian Navy has taken numerous initiatives to progress military diplomacy. These included gifting two fast interceptor craft to Mozambique, technical support towards refit of ships from friendly foreign countries, joint surveillance of exclusive economic zone of friendly nations and conduct of bilateral and multilateral exercises in the last six months.

“I was also happy to note the overwhelming participation of 39 friendly foreign countries in the MILAN multi-national naval exercise,” the defence minister said.

He highlighted that the Navy has also been providing training to foreign personnel in India and over 19,000 personnel have been trained in the last four decades from over 45 friendly foreign countries.

He also applauded the Navy for appointing women officers onboard frontline ships and ship-borne flights. Further, the Navy would also be inducting women cadets through the National Defence Academy from June this year.