Thaindian News

New Delhi, June 7 (IANS) President Pratibha Patil, the supreme commander of the armed forces, will December 20 review the Indian Navy fleet, when India’s top warships including the lone aircraft carrier INS Viraat and newly-inducted indigenous stealth frigate INS Shivalik will showcase the country’s naval might.

Patil will become the first woman president to review the Indian Navy fleet, an exercise conduct once during every president’s tenure. Her tenure will come to an end in July 2012.

Preparations are in full swing for the event to be conducted off Mumbai, a navy officer said Tuesday.

The last such review of the naval fleet was in February 2006 off Visakhapatnam, when A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was the president.

The navy will field, among other ships, its 52-year-old INS Viraat, one of its oldest warships - which was originally HMS Hermes and was bought by India in 1986 - along with its latest acquisition, the one-year-old INS Shivalik, during the fleet review.

Over 60 warships, including the potent INS Delhi and INS Rajput indigenous destroyers, and most of its Kilo class and HWD class submarines, would salute the president during the review. The newly-inducted MiG-29K fighter jets will lead the Indian Navy’s aviation wing’s participation in the fleet review.

“The event is an opportunity for the Indian Navy to showcase its might and battle readiness. It is an honour for both the men and machines of the navy to salute their suprme commander,” the officer said.

Though India had organised an international fleet review alongside the president’s fleet review in February 2001 when K.R. Narayanan was in office, there will be no foreign ships participating this time around, he added.