Vice-Admiral Sureesh Mehta is naval chief
The Navy is will be adding 40 more new ships in the near future.
Vice Admiral Nirmal Kumar Verma, who once commanded India's sole aircraft carrier INS Viraat, on Monday took over as the new Navy chief.
Indian navy well equipped to meet any threat : Navy Chief
Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Monday said India should have "credible minimum deterrence" keeping in view its neighbourhood.
With the Comptroller and Auditor General slamming the government for buying the second-hand Admiral Gorshkov at the price of a new aircraft carrier, Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Thursday defended the price being paid by India for the warship.
There is a lacunae in coastal security and intelligence sharing, said Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta in the wake of terror strikes in Mumbai.
Seeking to straighten out his recent remarks on China, Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta today said he had "never" stated that Beijing was more powerful than New Delhi as was attributed to him in the media.
Indian Army Chief General Deepak Kapoor took over as the chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee (COSC) on Monday.
The aircraft carrier is currently being refurbished at a cost of $1 billion, which includes 16 MiG 29K aircraft, is being built at the Sevmash shipyard in Serverodvinsk city of Russia.
Adopting a tough posture on dilly-dallying by Russia on handing over of aircraft carrier Admiral Gorshkov, Naval Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Monday said such a delay would make India "ponder where our defence relations are going to" with Moscow.
The Mumbai carnage could not have been carried out without indirect support from 'professional organisations' in Pakistan, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta said in Mumbai on Thursday."Of course there is indirect support.....some professional organisations could be involved," he said when asked if the terrorists had received assistance from Pakistani state agencies."How do you learn to do what you are doing? How do you get the infrastructure," he asked.
Senior DRDO scientist K Santhanam on Thursday reiterated that there was no question about backing away from his assertion that the 1998 Pokhran II nuclear tests were not fully successful, while the Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, said the tests conducted eleven years ago were adequate.
The naval chief told his top commanders that efforts should be to make the navy an operationally focused force capable of dealing with changing environment of the 21st century.
Fleeing LTTE cadre could enter Indian territory using the sea route but none has done so far, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta said here today.
If Admiral Mehta's warning that India is long way off from catching up to China can generate the requisite debate in the Indian political establishment about the rise of China and its implications for Indian strategy, he would have done his bit for the nation.
Outgoing Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Monday alleged that Pakistan's attempt to modify the Harpoon missile posed a danger to India's interests. As per media reports, the Barack Obama administration has lodged a protest with the Pakistan government for illegally modifying United States-made missiles to expand its ability to hit land-based targets. Mehta said that US authorities are constantly being told that their aid to Pakistan is not used for self-defence.
India is interfering in Pakistan's internal affairs through "information centers" it has set up in Afghanistan and promoting terrorism in Balochistan, caretaker Information Minister Nisar Memon has said.
Vice Admiral Venkat Barthan was named the new vice chief of naval staff on Tuesday.
Six decades of complaints about 'foreign involvement' in creating unrest in Balochistan has done no good to Pakistan neither have its intermittent military operations in the province. Islamabad has resorted to repressive measures to muzzle the Baloch demand for greater autonomy and right of ownership of its natural resources. This has not worked.
After the terror attack on Mumbai in November last year exposed the vulnerability of the Indian coastline, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta on Wednesday said cargo containers could be used to transport nuclear weapons."We have to ensure 100 per cent security at ports by scanning them (containers) under X-ray machines. Every country has to accede to it that wherever, whichever port the container leaves from, that country certifies that this container is fully secure," he said.
The problem is not just India's. China, too, must deal with a commercially resurgent Russia. Beijing had signed, in 2005, a $1-billion order for 34 giant IL-78 transport planes and 4 IL-78 refuelling aircraft. Now Russia has realised that it cannot meet its own as well as Beijing's requirements. That contract is being renegotiated at a higher price.
The navy on Friday said it would not be able to spare its Marine Commandos for any anti-terror hubs to be created in major cities, but if required they can provide training to other forces. Navy chief admiral Sureesh Mehta said "we can send MARCOS, whenever they are required to be deployed, as it happened in Mumbai. They will be there to assist the civil authority. "
It is a 'cause for security concern' to India, Naval Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta told media persons in New Delhi when asked about the revelations by satellite pictures that China had amassed five nuclear submarines carrying long range missiles. Defence Minister A K Antony sought to be evasive on the subject, saying the country's armed forces are capable of taking 'full care of our security interests' whether it is sea lanes or land borders.
Building an indigenous nuclear submarine will mark a leap forward in the country's defence preparedness considering that China already possesses such systems.
Maintaining that oil rigs at Bombay High were high on the terror strike list, the new naval chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta said his force had drawn extensive plans to deal with such a threat.
India on Saturday said the North Korean cargo ship, which illegally entered its territorial waters, had 'no business' to be there, even as its captain claimed it had done so due to mechanical problems. Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta said in Delhi that the M V San 'had no business' to be in Indian waters and that the maritime security agencies had fears that it could be carrying nuclear components. =
The Ezhimala Naval Academy, a project to conduct a host of training courses, including research, will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on January 8, Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta said today.
The Indian Navy has turned out to be a 'weak area' for China in the Indian Ocean and the Asian neighbour was not happy with the Indian naval presence there, Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta said on Thursday.
"Navies work according to national interests. A lot of Chinese oil is transported through the Indian Ocean. Indian maritime trade also takes place through the Indian Ocean for which we keep a watch and its (China's) interests are also the same," Admiral Mehta said. Reports carried in a section of media said that it is closest to India and that the discovery had set-off alarm bells in the region.
India's Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta set the cat amongst the pigeons recently when he hinted in a speech that India could not match China military force.
Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Sureesh Mehta, who retires from the Indian Navy at the month-end, delivered a powerful speech on 'National Security Challenges' at a conference organised by the National Maritime Foundation in New Delhi on Monday. Not surprisingly, for an admiral known for speaking his mind, it was a speech marked by characteristic candour.
According to defence ministry figures, infiltration attempts in Kashmir jumped to 83 during April, marking a four-fold increase.
The navy expects the MiG-29s and the naval variant of Light Combat Aircraft to be operational by then.
Government is looking at a "middle path" in resolving the "ticklish issue" of 'One Rank One Pension' demand of ex-servicemen, officials sources said.
If the government of the day would like to set in place a smooth and well-planned changeover and facilitate the incoming chief to chalk out his action plan well in advance, the announcement of a successor needs to be done early, observes Colonel K Thammayya Udupa (retd).
As Raazi hit theatres, Harinder Sikka -- author of Calling Sehmat, the book on which the film is based -- reveals the thrilling real life story of an Indian spy named Sehmat.
'It was almost as though there was widespread relief that the defence bureaucracy, and the minister, could find someone willing to shoulder the blame for everything that had gone wrong with the services under Antony's charge -- the poor preparedness of the forces, slow acquisitions caused by indecision, cancellation of contracts and whimsical blacklisting of defence contractors over the tiniest suspicion that they may have paid speed money or kickbacks.'
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances