{"id":230246,"date":"2022-09-02T15:53:00","date_gmt":"2022-09-02T15:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/?p=230246"},"modified":"2022-09-02T15:53:00","modified_gmt":"2022-09-02T15:53:00","slug":"honoured-to-be-present-british-envoy-at-ins-vikrants-commissioning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/haftavasool.com\/haftavasool\/blog\/2022\/09\/02\/honoured-to-be-present-british-envoy-at-ins-vikrants-commissioning\/","title":{"rendered":"“Honoured To Be Present”: British Envoy At INS Vikrant’s Commissioning"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"'Honoured<\/div>\n

High Commissioner Alex Ellis said it was “a great day” for the Indian Navy and for open and free seas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Kochi: <\/b><\/p>\n

As Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned the country’s first home-built aircraft carrier on Friday and the Indian Navy adopted a new ensign, shedding its last remnants of colonial iconography, among those present was the British High Commissioner to India.<\/p>\n

“Honoured to be present at the commissioning of #INSVikrant by @narendramodi – a great day for @indiannavy & for open & free seas,” High Commissioner Alex Ellis tweeted along with a video message from the flight deck of the massive aircraft carrier.<\/p>\n

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Honoured to be present at the commissioning of #INSVikrant<\/a> by @narendramodi<\/a> – a great day for 🇮🇳 @indiannavy<\/a> & for open & free seas pic.twitter.com\/grxwUQDNXz<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Alex Ellis (@AlexWEllis) September 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After 17 years of construction and tests, PM Modi commissioned the INS Vikrant<\/a> – the navy’s second operational aircraft carrier and the largest warship ever built in India – at a state-run shipyard, underlining his government’s efforts to boost domestic production to supply a military deployed on two contentious borders.<\/p>\n

The Indian Navy also unveiled a new ensign<\/a>, forgoing the colonial era Saint George’s Cross, and adopting a design that honours Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, the founder of the Maratha kingdom who had a naval fleet.<\/p>\n

“Till today the Indian naval flags carried a sign of slavery, which has been replaced with a new one inspired by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj,” PM Modi said, before he commissioned INS Vikrant.<\/p>\n

“Today, India has joined those countries in the world which can manufacture such a huge aircraft carrier with indigenous technology,” PM Modi said. “It is a symbol of indigenous potential, indigenous resources and indigenous skills.”<\/p>\n

Designed to accommodate a crew of about 1,600 and a fleet of 30 aircraft, the Vikrant will rely on Russian-designed MIG-29K aircraft that already operate from India’s other carrier, the INS Vikramaditya, which India bought from Russia.<\/p>\n

The Vikrant will significantly add to India’s maritime capabilities, allowing the navy to operate an aircraft carrier on each seaboard, alongside its 10 destroyers, 12 frigates and 20 corvettes.<\/p>\n

“Security concerns in the Indo-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean have long been ignored,” PM Modi said. “But today this area is a major defence priority for our country.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n