NEW DELHI, Sept 2 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned India’s first aircraft carrier on Friday, underscoring his government’s efforts to boost domestic production to feed a military deployed on two disputed borders. After 17 years of construction and testing, Modi commissioned INS Vikrant – the navy’s second operational aircraft carrier and the largest warship ever built in India – to a state-owned shipyard in the south. “Today, India has joined those countries in the world that can build such a huge aircraft carrier with indigenous technology,” Modi said. “It is a symbol of indigenous potential, indigenous resources and indigenous skills.” Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Designed to accommodate a crew of around 1,600 and a fleet of 30 aircraft, the Vikrant will be based on Russian-designed MIG-29K aircraft already in service from India’s other carrier, INS Vikramaditya, which India bought from Russia. Boeing ( BA.N ) and France’s Dassault ( AM.PA ) are seeking to supply India with more than two dozen jets for the Vikrant. India is one of the world’s biggest arms importers, spending $12.4 billion between 2018 and 2021, but is seeking to develop its own manufacturing capabilities as key supplier Russia wages war in Ukraine and faces sanctions. read more Indian Navy officers stand on the flight deck of India’s first home-built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant after its commissioning ceremony at a government shipyard in Kochi, India, September 2, 2022. REUTERS/Sivaram V read more India has identified about 8,000 imported defense items worth about 82 trillion rupees ($1.03 trillion) in 2022-2023 that it wants its companies to build, according to the defense ministry. India employs 1.38 million people in its armed forces, with large numbers deployed on the border with nuclear-armed rivals China and Pakistan. “India is working with all its might to become self-reliant,” Modi said, referring to home-grown Tejas light combat aircraft and artillery. read more The Vikrant will add significantly to India’s maritime capabilities, allowing the navy to operate an aircraft carrier on every seagoing vessel, along with its 10 destroyers, 12 frigates and 20 corvettes. China, which also has two operational aircraft carriers and is working on a third, has a much larger fleet of 335 ships, including about 48 destroyers, 43 frigates and 61 corvettes. “Security concerns in the Indo-Pacific region and the Indian Ocean have long been ignored,” Modi said. “But today this area is a major defense priority for our country.” Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comSign up Report by Devjyot Ghoshal. Edited by Robert Birsel Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
