Stating that India had a glorious maritime past with a history of 5,000 years, former Chief of Naval Staff and National Maritime Foundation chairman Admiral R.K. Dhowan on Wednesday said with thrust being laid on indigenisation in shipbuilding and warfare weapon manufacturing, the country was poised to play a significant role in the Indian Ocean Region.
He was delivering a lecture on ‘India a resurgent maritime nation-harnessing the Blue Economy,’ organised here at GITAM Centre for Gandhian Studies in association with the National Maritime Foundation.
He said oceans had always remained a strong unifying factor.
Till 16th century, India was a nation with the largest GDP and India and China had together contributed for more than of half of world’s wealth. “We lost supremacy over seas with the advent of colonial era after the visit of Vasco Da Gama in 1498,” he said adding in medieval period, Indian shipyards had built 115 warships and 144 merchant ships. The Bombay Dockyard had built HMS Trincomalee in 1817, the second oldest floating warship in the world.
“Unfortunately we were not part of the Industrial Revolution and we could not revive our glorious heritage after Independence,” he admitted pointing out that India being strategically located was playing a key role in the Indian Ocean Region known for its rich biodiversity and dependence on it by China and others for trade and commerce.
Plastic pollution
On ocean pollution, he regretted that 80% of pollution was emanating from the land and observed that of late plastic pollution was turning into a big menace and called for steps to curb it.
In the National Maritime Development Programme, emphasis was accorded to transform Swachh Bharat into Swachh Sagar to ensure clean and healthy oceans.
Referring to indigenisation, he said the Union government had been giving top priority to ‘Make in India’ programme to achieve self-reliance in the defence sector. With this in view 100% FDI had been allowed in defence manufacturing. Construction of India’s indigenous aircraft carrier was under construction at Cochin Shipyard. Now time has come to take up construction of very large crude carriers and LNG vessels and stop dependence on imported raw material.
GITAM (deemed to be university) Chancellor K. Ramakrishna Rao and in-charge Vice-Chancellor K. Siva Rama Krishna later felicitated Admiral Dhowan.