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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

New Naval base to set up in Lakshadweep

Kavaratti: The Indian Navy, which is gradually building up capabilities across the island territories to meet the new world order, is all set to open its full-fledged shore unit at the Lakshadweep islands. The new operations base, INS Dweeprakshak, in Kavaratti island would be launched by the end of this month.

INS Dweeprakshak which would be under the Southern Naval Command (SNC) in Kochi, would be the second operations base of the Indian Navy in an island territory, after the one based in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the Bay of Bengal.The new base is expected to be inaugurated on April 30.Once fully operational, INS Dweeprakshak will have new aircraft, warships and helicopters operating from there along with other operational capabilities. Last year, Indian forces had thwarted a couple of pirate attacks near the Lakshadweep and Minicoy islands.

The Defence Minister had recently pointed out the need for securing the country’s island territories. The Centre has made special allocation for improving island security. The Ministry of Defence(MoD) is also setting up a chain of radar stations across the coastal boundaries of India for better surveillance. Lakshadweep islands will have four radar stations.


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