Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman addressed the Naval Leadership on Thursday during the ongoing Naval Commanders’ Conference being held at New Delhi.
This is the second edition of the bi-annual Naval Commanders’ Conference.
Hon’ble @DefenceMinIndia Smt.@nsitharaman addresses top naval leadership during the ongoing #NavalCommandersConference at New Delhi. Holds interaction with Commanders. Hon’ble @DrSubhashMoS , Def Secy & top Bureaucrats of MoD also present. pic.twitter.com/w5GoC4dsRb
— SpokespersonNavy (@indiannavy) October 26, 2017
Sitharaman complimented all personnel of the Indian Navy for securing the maritime interests of the nation.
She emphasised the need for the Indian Navy to be strong at sea, and be ever ready and vigilant to counter any challenges in the maritime domain.
Sithraman acknowledged the lead taken by Indian Navy in indigenisation and self-reliance and stated that it is the collective responsibility of Service Headquarters, the Ministry and the Industry to promote and encourage development of equipment and systems in India and to reduce import dependence in the Defence sector.
Sitharaman assured the Commanders’ that issues relating to critical capability shortfalls in — ship-borne multi-role helicopters, conventional submarines and mine counter measure vessels– were being given due efforts were in hand to mitigate these shortcomings at the earliest.
She also mentioned the initiatives taken by the Indian Navy to impart practical training for naval personnel from Indian Ocean Region (IOR) littoral nations on a regular basis.
The four-day long Naval Commanders’ Conference is in its third day of deliberations wherein the top-level leadership of Navy is reviewing major operational, training and administrative activities undertaken in the last six months.
The conference also reviewed Navy’s readiness to deploy over the entire range of missions in the maritime domain (the new Mission-based Deployment Concept).