Indigenisation, infrastructure in focus as Indian Navy commanders meet

Indigenisation, building infrastructure in sync with the Indian Navy's perspective plans, and strengthening human resources were in focus as top commanders of force met in the national capital on Thursday.

The conference, which was chaired by the Indian Navy chief, Admiral R.K Dhowan, discussed myriad issues, including enhancing the operational readiness of the commands, infrastructure development, managing human resources, coastal security, cyber security and foreign cooperation initiatives, amongst others.

The conference that started Monday, concluded on Thursday.

Admiral Dhowan also reviewed the coastal security construct and status of various platforms that are to be inducted in near future.

According to an official statement, Admiral Dhowan stressed that indigenisation of platforms, weapons, sensors and equipment, through the DRDO and the public and private sectors, as also through in-house efforts, should remain an area of focus.

The navy chief also emphasised that the "roadmap for the navy's expansion and growth would continue to remain anchored on self-reliance and indigenisation".

He also urged the naval designers and technical officers to work in close coordination with DRDO to develop niche technologies for the future navy.

An Indian Navy statement said that during the conference, Admiral Dhowan released the Maritime Infrastructure Perspective Plan (2015-27) and reviewed progress of various infrastructure projects that are in the pipeline and would contribute towards capacity building.

An integrated roadmap and action plan to develop ecologically sustainable infrastructure was also released by the navy chief.

The conference, which brought together naval commanders, the other service chiefs and defence ministry officials, also provided a platform for discussing joint operations and military synergy.

Emphasising that combat readiness of the fleet and other operational formations is of prime importance, Admiral Dhowan complimented all ranks of the navy for maintaining a high tempo of operations during the last six months, including the response shown during the fresh water crisis in the Maldives and evacuation of people of various nationalities from Yemen.

Human reource management remained a key issue as well and Admiral Dhowan announced that 2015 will be observed as the Year of the Sailors.

Consolidating and strengthening the navy's rapidly-expanding aviation arm was also discussed and deliberations were held on infrastructure and manning requirements for new induction aircraft, including unmanned aerial vehicles and enhancing surveillance "in our area of interest".

Deliberations were also held to strengthen cyber security in the Indian Navy.