Indian Navy to commission new base in Lakshadweep in a bid to keep a better eye on Indian Ocean

“To keep an eye on the military and commercial activities of adversaries” in the Indian Ocean and to strengthen its position in the region, the Indian Navy will commission a new base, INS Jatayu, in the Minicoy Islands of Lakshadweep next week.

A report by ANI quoted defence officials saying the base in Lakshadweep is being commissioned with a small component of officers and men, but would be expanded in future.

Base coming up close to islands of the Maldives

“This would also give us a strong foothold in the area to keep an eye on the military and commercial activities of adversaries in the area, as this is around 50 miles from the islands of the Maldives,” an official said.

The base would be similar to the INS Baaz positioned in the Andaman and Nicobar islands, and would have similar capabilities in the Arabian Sea.

The Indian Navy is planning to commission the new base in Lakshadweep during the commanders’ conference plan, which is going to be held next week on board the twin carriers - INS Vikramaditya and INS Vikrant.

During the commanders’ conference, the Navy will be undertaking high-tempo operations including taking off from one carrier and landing at the other, along with participation from other warships and submarines in the carrier battle groups, ANI report quoted defence officials as saying.

It will be the first time, after induction of INS Vikrant, that the Navy would be carrying out operations of the two aircraft carriers together.

As per defence officials, the Indian Navy also plans to formally commission four of its multirole helicopter MH-60 Romeo at Kochi in the next week, they said. The choppers were acquired from the US under a government-to-government deal.

The force would also see the buildings of its naval war college in Goa and facilities in Karwar inaugurated around March 4, they said.

With inputs from agencies