President of India Ram Nath Kovind on Monday (February 21) conducted the Fleet Review off the Visakhapatnam coast in the Bay of Bengal where the Indian Navy demonstrated its new capabilities and the theme of the President’s Fleet Review-2022 was ‘Indian Navy – 75 years in Service of the Nation’, commemorating the Azaadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.
The president was on board the indigenously designed Naval Offshore Patrol Vessel INS Sumitra, designated as the Presidential Yacht, as the supreme commander of the armed forces sailed past 44 ships anchored in four columns in the Bay of Bengal and received the ceremonial salute from each of them.
The crew from each ship presented a salute with the traditional ‘Three Jais’, a symbolic act called “Man and Cheer Ship,” in a demonstration of the unconditional allegiance of Navy personnel to the country and the Supreme Commander.
The President was accompanied by his wife the First Lady Savita Kovind, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhat, Andhra Pradesh Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan, Chief of Defence Staff General M M Naravane, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command Vice-Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta and other officials onboard the Presidential Yacht.
On completion of the review, the President returned to base with ceremonial piping of the side, followed by a 21 Gun Salute.
The role of the Navy in the complex and dangerous world of geo-politics is more important than ever as the last decade saw the rise of China which has threatened the Indo-Pacific region. That is why India’s dependence on the maritime environment has expanded substantially as its economic, military and technological strength grew.
“There seems little doubt that the 21st century will be the ‘Century of the Seas’ for India and that the seas will remain a key enabler in its global resurgence,” the Navy observed.
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