Defence Minister, Mr George Fernandes congratulated Indian Navy for the manner in which it was mobilised for operation Parakram. While addressing the week-long Naval Senior Officers Conference at Naval Headquarters, he stated that the speed and the competence displayed by Navy during the mobilisation was most commendable, and has been taken note of by both friends and enemies.

The Minister underscored that where national security and defence requirements are concerned, the Government’s position has always been that there would be no dearth of money. He said that the 15-year ship-building programme of Navy needs to be expedited by all the agencies dealing with the project. He assured the senior Naval officers that it would be his personal endeavour to see that this project gets underway without any problems. The Minister expressed satisfaction at the speedy progress of the work on Karwar Project which was ahead of schedule. He hoped that work on the Naval Academy in Ezhimala would be speeded up and completed on schedule. The Defence Minister emphasised that in view of the developments that have emerged in India’s maritime neighbourhood and the way world was going, India should have at least two operational aircraft carriers and another one as a standby.

Later, the Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Madhvendra Singh, in his closing address, said that while redeployment of forces was in progress, the Navy must keep its guard up. All Flag Officers Commanding-in-Chief of the three Naval Commands and the Tri-service Andaman and Nicobar Command, Principal Staff Officers and other senior officers of Navy attended the conference.