December 3rd 2023.
The Indian Navy celebrates Navy Day on December 4 every year, the date on which, during the 1971 Indo-Pak conflict, Naval ships stealthily manoeuvred off Karachi and delivered a devastating missile attack that left the port in ruins and destroyed numerous enemy warships. This was a defining moment for the Indian Navy, which has since grown tremendously and has become the fourth-largest Navy in the world.
In the last year, the Indian Navy has undertaken extensive deployment of ships, submarines, and aircraft in areas of maritime interest across the Indian Ocean Region and beyond to protect India’s national interests. Notable highlights include Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief operations in Sudan, the interception of a record amount of narcotics in the Arabian Sea, and port calls to various countries to promote goodwill and friendship. The Indian Navy also successfully completed the maiden port call of a submarine in Australia.
The Indian Navy has also taken significant steps towards indigenisation in order to meet the various challenges and threats in the maritime domain. The Navy has been developing its own weapons, systems, sensors, and platforms since the late 1950s. This has allowed the Navy to transition from a Buyer’s Navy to a Builder’s Navy with the active participation of the Indian industry. Notable examples of this indigenisation include the Kolkata and Vishakhapatnam class destroyers, Shivalik and Niligiri class frigates, Kamorta class anti-submarine corvettes, and Arihant class nuclear submarines. India’s first aircraft carrier, Vikrant, was also designed and constructed indigenously.
The Navy has also made great strides in human resource initiatives in the past year. A number of changes have been made to the personnel management system to better align processes with ground realities. This includes the Agnipath scheme, induction of women across all ranks, provisions of ‘Subject Matter Experts’ for non-empanelled officers, introduction of the 360-appraisal system, and revamped orders for rendition of Confidential Reports.
In addition, the Navy has taken several steps to shed its colonial legacy. Several traditions with Colonial underpinnings have been replaced with new ones that are more suited to the Indian context. This includes changes to uniforms to better suit the weather conditions and changes to rank nomenclature to sound more functional. The goal of these initiatives is to instill a sense of pride within the Service and celebrate its own traditions and ethos.
As the Indian Navy navigates through the ever-changing geopolitical flux and the ever-evolving maritime challenges, it has demonstrated exemplary leadership in ensuring that the Service is ready to face all challenges with josh and elan. This December 4, as we celebrate Navy Day, the men and women in white uniform proudly re-dedicate themselves to our motherland and assure the nation and its citizens that the Indian Navy is ever-ready to execute all kinds of operations in the maritime domain.
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