First time a Woman officer assumes command of a Navy ship : Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar 

NEW DELHI : The Indian Navy appointed the first woman commanding officer in a naval ship, Navy Chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Friday. He added that more than 1,000 women Agniveers have been incorporated into the Indian Navy. Admiral said this is in sync with its philosophy of ‘all roles-all ranks’ for female personnel.

“We appointed the first woman commanding officer of an Indian naval ship. It has been our effort to constantly challenge the status quo to ensure that the navy remains on an aspirational and dynamic trajectory into the future,” Admiral Kumar was quoted by as saying.

He said the overall strength of women Agniveers has now crossed the 1,000-mark, adding that the Indian Navy’s first batch of Agniveers graduated from the premier-winning establishment, INS Chilka, in March this year.

“And importantly, this (first) batch of Agniveers includes 272 female Agniveer trainees as well…And going further, the second batch of Agniveers had a total of 454 women and I want to say that with the third batch, which has just been inducted, we have now crossed over 1000 women affiliates in the navy,” Admiral Kumar said.

Addressing a press conference ahead of Navy Day, Admiral Kumar asserted that these statistics stand testament to the Indian Navy’s philosophy of ‘all roles and all ranks’ with regard to the deployment of women in the service, both for officers and for personnel below the rank of officer.

“Take a look at the year gone by, and you’d agree that 2023 has been a remarkable year for our nation. Leaving a mark across various sectors and spheres, be it the economic front, diplomacy, or sports arena,” Admiral Kumar was quoted.

“Similarly, for the navy too, the last year has been remarkable. And in this period, our ships, submarines and aircraft have sustained a high operation tempo, undertaking missions and tasks encompassing military, diplomatic and constabulary roles,” he added.

Admiral Kumar said the Indian Navy’s ships, submarines, and aircraft have sustained a high operational tempo in the strategic waters in the last one year. “Our ships have been persistently present across the Indo-Pacific region. Submarines have undertaken operational turnarounds at foreign ports in Oman, Australia, and Indonesia,” he said.

“In the data-level operational readiness exercise in the months of January and February this year, more than 151 operational units took part in the exercise, which spanned an area of more than 21 million square nautical miles,” he added.