India has accumulated experience organically and in public, through blood, sweat and toil -- one commissioning and one agreement at a time -- and is called a regional power. China has accumulated hulls, by misdirecting its industrial capacity, and is mistakenly called a superpower. The Indo-Japan defence agreement pushes this theory to its limits without ever naming the dragon in the room, points out Dr Abhishek Puri.
Indigenously built by a Kolkata-based company, the vessel embodies India's growing shipbuilding prowess with over 80 per cent locally sourced components.
The vehicle can rescue as many as 14 people in one dive.
