Thaindian News

Panaji, Aug 21 (IANS) When Indian Navy chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta retires after 42 years of service on August 31, chances are he will permanently drop anchor in Goa, the state his wife belongs to and where his “roots” are.
Speaking to reporters Friday during his farewell visit to the Goa Naval Area, Mehta said he would like to settle down in Goa “once I get my house in the state ready”. The navy chief is married to the Maria Teresa Mehta, daughter of Goa’s first leader of opposition, the late Jack Sequeira.

“As you may know, I have my roots here too. We hope to come back to Goa as soon as we can. As soon as we have a place to stay,” a jovial Sureesh Mehta said, even quipping to a journalist that he would settle down in Goa, provided he was invited by the media to do so.

Marriage aside, Goa has often been the official port-of-call for the outgoing admiral, who was commissioned in the Indian Navy in July 1967. He commanded the 551 Naval Air Squadron and served as the Flag Officer (Goa Area) and Flag Officer (Naval Aviation).

As Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Mumbai-based Western Fleet, Mehta was involved in Operation Parakram post the Dec 13, 2001, parliament attack, when the fleet demonstrated “naval flexibility in support of national aims and stood poised to seal off Karachi and blockade the Pakistani coast”.

As Assistant Controller (Warship Production and Acquisition) and Assistant Controller (Carrier Projects) at Naval Headquarters, Mehta initiated wide-ranging initiatives to revitalize the naval fleet to prepare it for blue-water operations in the 21st century.

“Currently the Indian Navy has a fleet of 140 ships, both small and big. We have the capability to assert the control we want in our sphere of influence and face threats across the spectrum, from terror threats to nuclear warfare,” Mehta told reporters.

Terming the Indian Navy a “builder’s navy”, Mehta said that currently 40 ships and submarines were in the process of being built at home and abroad. These included an indigenous aircraft carrier and an indigenous nuclear-powered submarine.

“We are a growing navy and we are technologically well advanced,” he noted, adding that henceforth a B.Tech degree would be a pre-requisite for all officers aspiring for the executive branch.

Mehta lamented that India, despite its 7,500-km coastline, was still considered a continental rather than a maritime power.

“In the 21st century, the destiny of the world will be decided in the Indian Ocean,” Mehta said, emphasizing on the strategic importance of the Indian Navy.