SOURCE: PTI
Citing a daring mid-sea anti-piracy operation undertaken by the Indian Navy recently, its chief Admiral R Hari Kumar on Sunday said this mission further “cemented” India’s stature as the “first responder” and “preferred security partner” at sea.
In his address at a Naval Investiture Ceremony held at INS Hansa, Goa, he also urged the Navy personnel to “affirm and align all your actions to the vision of Ships First”.
“As the Indian Navy continues to affirmatively expand its operational footprint, it is the unwavering professionalism and indomitable spirit of our personnel, which ensures our success, always and every time. Our men and women, who don the whites with pride, are the formidable bulwark of our service,” the Navy chief said.
Towards supporting the Navy’s warriors in white, who valiantly fight at sea, patrol the deep reaches of oceans, and soar through the skies, “I urge each one of you to affirm and align all your actions to the vision of ‘Ships First’, our basic building block in line with ‘Nation First'”, he said.
All endeavours and efforts of the Navy should be aimed to support “our men and women at sea”. They are central to its efforts in remaining a ‘Combat Ready, Credible, Cohesive and Future Proof Force’, the Navy chief added.
It is with this “josh and jazbaa” that the Indian Navy along with the IAF meticulously planned and effectively executed a “daring rescue operation over 2,600 km from our coast”, enabled by sustained aerial surveillance and backed by para-dropping of its special forces by a C-17 aircraft thereby ensuring safe release of hostages from the merchant vessel Ruen, he asserted.
“This mission has further cemented our stature as the ‘First Responder’ and ‘Preferred Security Partner’. While many countries have deployed their surface and aerial units in the area, it was finally the ‘Bhartiya Nausena’ which took this decisive and affirmative action,” Admiral Kumar said.
“This is the ‘Naye Bharat ki Nayi Nausena aur Naye Nausena ki Nayi Soch’ — the new and confident ‘Bharatiya Nausena’ that is not shy to wear its identity of Bharat,” he said.
Indian Navy will take “affirmative action” to ensure a safer and more secure Indian Ocean Region, Admiral Kumar had said on March 23 while citing the anti-piracy and other maritime security operations undertaken by the naval force in the preceding 100 days.
He had then also cited the dramatic mid-sea operation undertaken by the Navy along with the IAF that had ended a three-month hijacking of a bulk carrier (‘Ruen’) with the deployment of its warship INS Kolkata, long-endurance Sea Guardian drones, P-8I surveillance aircraft and airdropping of elite MARCOS commandos from a C-17 plane.
In his speech on Sunday, the Navy chief said the Western Naval Command has played a “pivotal role in this operation”.
“Every mission assigned and each task entrusted have been executed with elan and accomplished with aplomb. The operational tempo has been relentless, operational performance impeccable and operational reach and sustenance extraordinary. I commend all personnel of the Western Naval Command for their untiring efforts,” he said.
Admiral Kumar also presented Gallantry and Distinguished Service awards to naval personnel on behalf of the President of India at the investiture ceremony.
The awards were conferred to honour and recognise the bravery, leadership, professional achievements and distinguished service of naval personnel.
A total of 35 personnel were conferred with various awards during the ceremony, which included Nau Sena Medals (Gallantry) to Cdr Manish Singh Karki, Cdr Kaustab Banerjee, Lt Cdr Panneerselvam Vishnu Prasanna and Lt Cdr Bhaskar, the Navy said in a statement.
Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Naval Command, and various flag officers, commanding officers, family members of awardees were present on the occasion.
“This is an occasion to acknowledge the exemplary deeds of our fine men and women, and to recognise their exceptional courage and unflinching devotion well beyond the call of the service,” the Navy chief said.
These awards are not only a “recognition of your selfless sacrifice, sustained commitment and superlative performance”, but to a large part, also reflect the “support provided by your shipmates at sea and, your families at shore”, he said, adding, a “special salute to our families who silently yet saliently support us as we deploy to protect, preserve and pursue our national interests”.
During the ceremony, the Chief of Naval Staff also presented the Lt V K Jain Memorial Gold Medal for pioneering research in the field of weapon improvement and electrical engineering, as well as the Capt Ravi Dhir Memorial Gold Medal for promoting flight safety, the statement said.
The CNS Trophy for Best Green Practices 2023 was awarded to Naval Dockyard, Mumbai and INS Valsura in the industrial and non-industrial categories, respectively.
The Navy chief also awarded unit citations to naval units for their outstanding service over the past year. The recipients were Indian Naval Ships Teg, Kolkata, Karmuk, Sumedha, Sumitra and Sharda, submarine INS Sindhukesari, flight squadron INAS 550 and shore establishments Chilka, Circars, Eksila, Dronacharya and Naval Ship Repair Yard (Karwar), the Navy said.
Some of these ships have played key role in anti-piracy operations by the Navy in the past several months.