INS Vikramaditya
At present, India has only one aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, which is built on a Russian platform. Defence forces have been seeking three carriers in all – one in spare besides one each for the two main naval fronts, in the Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal.
India has commissioned its first indigenously-built aircraft carrier, Vikrant, at a ceremony in the southern state of Kerala. The BBC’s Jugal Purohit took a tour of the vessel ahead of its induction into the Indian navy.
On Friday morning, the 45,000-tonne Vikrant got the prefix INS (Indian Naval Ship) at a formal commissioning ceremony, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
It is a moment that was 13 years in the making.
The vessel – 262m (860ft) long and almost 60m (197ft) tall – is the first aircraft carrier India has designed and built on its own. It has the capacity to hold 30 fighter planes and helicopters.
India’s other aircraft carrier, INS Vikramaditya, can carry more than 30 aircraft. The UK Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Elizabeth can carry about 40 and the US Navy’s Nimitz class carriers can accommodate more than 60 aircraft
Russian soldiers take part in the opening ceremony of the Vostok 2022 military exercises in Russia’s far-eastern Primorsky region on August 31.
Russia has begun large military drills in the country’s east that involves forces from China — a show of increasingly close defense ties between Moscow and Beijing amid tensions with the West over the war in Ukraine.
The Vostok 2022 exercises take place in various locations in Russia’s Far East and the Sea of Japan and involve more than 50,000 troops and over 5,000 weapons units, including 140 aircraft and 60 warships, the Russian Defense Ministry said. It will conclude on September 7.
The drills also engage troops from India, Laos, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Syria, and several former Soviet countries.
India continues to stress its neutrality in its stance on Russia’s war in Ukraine, saying it maintains good relations with both the West and Moscow.
China has pointedly refused to criticize Russia’s war in Ukraine, blaming the United States and NATO for provoking Moscow, and has condemned Western sanctions imposed on Moscow.
Russia, in turn, has strongly backed China amid the tensions with the United States that followed a recent visit to Taiwan by U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recently drew parallels between U.S. support for Ukraine and Pelosi’s trip to Taiwan, charging that both were part of alleged American efforts to foment global instability.