: LIFELINE OF

India is a developing country with a well developed and strong defence force. The defence of Indian is divided into three categories, the on the land, the in the sky and the Indian Navy in the sea. The Indian Navy plays a very important role in the protection of Indian borders on the sea coast. India has a coastline of about 7500 kilometers and a Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of over 2 million kilometers per square. Indian navy protects the Bay of Bengal in the northeast part of India and the in the southern part of India. India has a well strong navy with about 150 ships,17 and a large number of brave soldiers.

Indian navy was founded on 1612; 409 years ago, proceded by the Royal Indian Navy. The Indian navy was established by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in 1642 and he is also called the father of Indian navy. Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had well said that, “to be secure on land, we must be Supreme at the Sea.” The motto of Indian navy is ‘Sam No Varunah’ the invocation to the lord Varuna (Sea God) with the meaning “Be suspicious unto us oh varuna.” The Indian navy has a advanced and powerful weapons which includes -launched ballistic missile, ship-launched ballistic missile,

2 cruise and anti-ship missile, air-to-air missile, surface-to-air missile, , air-to-air gun, main gun and anti-submarine rocket launcher. It comprises 100mm(3.9 in) AK 190 gun with range of 21.5 km (13.4 mi), 130 km (81 mi) KH-35 4 Quad Uran, ASW RBU-2000 etc. There are many operational fleets like 1 , 1 Amphibious transport dock, 8 landing ship tanks, 10 destroyers, 13 frigates, 23 , 3 , 15 diesel submarine, 140 petrol vessels, 4 replenishment oilers and other auxiliary vessels. The Indian navy has BhahMos which is world’s fastest anti-ship cruise missile in operation. The Indian navy combat ships are divided into seven main categories; aircraft carrier, cruises, destroyers, frigates, corvette, submarine and amphibious assault ships. The ships are names as Indian navy ships(INS). The INS Viraat was a flagship of Indian navy which was commissioned in 2013. The motto of INS Viraat was, “He who rules over sea is all powerful.” And it was

3 decommissioned after thirty years of service on 6 INS Vikramaditya

March 2017. Another ship which is the biggest ship named INS Vikramaditya, it is a flagship of the Indian navy, it entered in 2013 and was commissioned on 16 November 2013. It’s length is 284 meters (932 ft), it has 110 officers and 1500 sailor. Motto of this ship is, “Strike far, Strike sure.” Other ship named INS Jalashwa, it is a Amphibious transport dock which was commissioned on 22 June 2007, it is 173.7 meters long(570 ft), motto of this ship is,” The

4 fearless pioneer.” Indian navy currently operates 3 destroyers in Kolkata, 3 destroyers in and 4 Rajput class guided missile destroyers. There are 3 Shivalik(Project 17 class) Frigates, 6 Talwar class Frigates. The Indian navy has 33 MiG-29 (combat aircraft), 14 Kamov Ka-31 aircraft, and a number of submarine and helicopters. The is the Supreme Commander of the Indian navy. The Indian navy have participated in a number of wars First Opium War, Second opium war, world war 1, world war 2, Portuguese-India war, Indo- war, war of 1965, , 1971 insurgency in Ceylon, , Indo- Pakistan naval war of 1971, Indo-Pakistan war of 1971, operation Lal Dora, operation Cactus, operation Flowers are blooming, , Anti- piracy operation in Somalia. INS kadamba is the third largest Indian Naval Base and is exphected to become the biggest Indian base in the eastern hemisphere. Indian is celebrated on 4

5 December to commemorate the attack carried out on horbour by the Indian navy ship during 1971 India-Pak war. This day is also to mark honor to the brave heart of Indian navy for selfless service.

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