Bhatt said that every corner of the country is effectively protected in water, land and air. Without naming any country, he said, “We are capable of giving a befitting reply to our enemies in every field. Once it was ’62’ and now we are in the present era.
The Indian Army, which suffered a setback in the 1962 Sino-India War, has come face-to-face with China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) on several occasions in recent years.
Bhatt was speaking at the commissioning of an indigenous hydrographic survey vessel built by Defense PSU Garden Reach Shipbuilders and Engineers (GRSE) Limited in Kolkata.
GRSE sources said these survey vessels are capable of undertaking hydrographic survey of coastal and deep waters of ports and harbor access and determination of navigational channels and routes. In addition, these vessels can survey maritime boundaries and collect oceanographic and geographical data for defense applications.
Bhatt said that be it the Army, Air Force or Navy, all are on alert round the clock and the country’s borders are safe in their hands. He further said that the government and the people of the country are always with him.
He said that in order to achieve Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s goal of self-reliant India, the government has envisioned a dedicated Defense Products Corridor to generate employment opportunities for the youth of the country and for greater localization of products.
“At various shipyards across the country, 39 warships and submarines for the Indian Navy are in various stages of construction,” the minister said at the event.
He said that the hydrographic survey vessel is the first of the four ships being built by GRSE under the Survey Vessels (Large) Project for the Indian Navy.
“It has also been named ‘Sandhyak’ after the oldest hydrographic survey vessel of the Navy, which was launched in June this year after serving the nation for 40 years,” he said after being commissioned by his wife Pushpa Bhatt as per maritime traditions. Was taken out of service. The new ship is much bigger and is equipped with modern equipment.”
He said that the old Sandhyak was also built by GRSE itself. The state-of-the-art new vessel is 60 percent larger than the previous one, which was put into service in 1981.
The Chairman and Managing Director of GRSE, Rear Admiral V.K. Saxena (Retd) said that the new Sandhyak is a ship of 3,400 tonnes as compared to the earlier ship of 1,900 tonnes.
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