PHOTOS: Arun Jaitley reviews preparedness at Western Naval Command

Defence Minister Arun Jaitley visited the aircraft carrier INS Viraat in Mumbai on Saturday.

Interacting with the media, Jaitley said there was a dire need to speed up the procurement process in defence. “The Navy had organised a visit to the INS Viraat. So, I was still there for the commissioning of these two ships which have been produced, and created entirely indigenously by the Cochin shipyard,” said Jaitley.

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“There has been a resource constraint and the new government is fully aware of it. National security is an issue which has always been a priority issue for us,” he said, adding that efforts would be made to provide all resources that are required for national security. “We have inspected everything that is required to improve things and the procurement process for all services needs to be speeded up. The major challenge is that we need more and faster procurement,” he added.

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Earlier, Jaitley and the Chief of Naval Staff Robin Dhowan visited the Western Naval Command in Mumbai to see the salvaged INS Sindhurakshak that sunk last year in August killing eighteen sailors. The sailors went missing after weapons stored in the forward section of the Russian-built INS Sindhurakshak exploded in the middle of the night, causing a fire as it lay berthed in Mumbai, the navy’s worst losses in more than four decades.

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Divers found the bodies of three sailors who were on board. The submarine was so badly damaged by fire and explosions that it was unlikely that any of 15 other missing crew members would be found alive.