Navy Chief pitches for bigger role in Indian Ocean

New Delhi: Addressing naval commanders on Friday, Indian Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba sought continued efforts to expand the Navy’s operational footprint and take up the role of a stabilising force in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) as well as to remain combat ready at all times.

The four-day Naval Commanders’ Conference concluded on Friday with the Navy chief speaking on operational readiness, capability enhancement, maintenance, operations logistics, infrastructure development and human resource management.

The meet focused on a review of major operational, training and administrative activities undertaken in the past six months as well as the Navy’s readiness to deploy missions in its domain.

On the opening day, defence minister Arun Jaitley had urged the commanders to be prepared at all times, emphasising that preparedness would be the best deterrent.