VELLORE: Six incidents of Chinese deployment of submarines in the Indian Ocean have been detected since 2013, said Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Sunil Lanba, who was in Arakkonam for the silver jubilee celebrations of INS Rajali Air Station here on Wednesday.
Addressing the media on the sidelines of the function, Lanba said whenever Chinese forces entered the Indian Ocean, they were tracked and monitored.
The Indian Navy has made no compromises when it came to the safety and security of the coasts. “A chain of radars and auto identification systems has been set up across the coastline, besides several operation centres. A command control coordination centre has also been set up in Delhi to monitor these centres,” said Lanba.
Noting that the Navy was in charge of the maritime security after the 2008 terror attacks, he said they have been coordinating with Indian Coast Guard and number of State governments to ensure that the coast was monitored continuously.
On Tamil fishermen being persecuted by the Lankan Navy, the Admiral said, “Though the Tamil fishermen end up crossing the narrow maritime border we share with the island nation, talks were on to find a lasting solution in the matter.”
During the function, three Tu-142M long range maritime patrol aircraft, which were on commission for 29 years, were de-inducted. It marked the end of the Tu-142 line as five of the eight craft that the Navy had owned were already de-inducted. A static display of the aircraft was inaugurated by Lanba.
The Tu-142M aircraft, bought from the erstwhile USSR, was inducted into Indian Navy in 1988 and had its base at Dabolim in Goa. It subsequently shifted base and reached INS Rajali in 1992. With over 30,000 hours of accident-free flying, the aircraft has had a distinguished service record with the Navy, said a release from the Defence Department.
During the function, a fleet of eight P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft was inducted for operation.