Aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya, nuclear submarine Chakra, 60 ships and nearly 80 aircraft were put on operational deployment by the Indian Navy in the North Arabian sea in the wake of escalating tension between India and Pakistan following the Pulwama terror attack, officials said Sunday, 17 March.
They said, as per PTI, that the naval assets were part of a mega exercise but they transited from the area of the drill for operational deployment soon after the dastardly attack on 14 February in which 40 CRPF personnel were killed.
At a tri-services press conference on 28 February, the Indian Navy said it was in a high state of readiness to "deter, prevent and defeat" any "misadventure" by Pakistan in the maritime domain, reflecting a sense of its preparedness as well as seriousness of the situation.
Reuters reported that one stage, India had even threatened to fire at least six missiles at Pakistan, and Islamabad said it would respond with its own missile strikes “three times over”, according to Western diplomats and government sources in New Delhi, Islamabad and Washington.
The exchanges did not get beyond threats, and there was no suggestion that the missiles involved were anything more than conventional weapons, but they created consternation in official circles in Washington, Beijing and London, the report added.
"The major combat units of the Indian Navy including the Carrier Battle Group with INS Vikramaditya, nuclear submarines and scores of other ships, submarines and aircraft swiftly transited from exercise to operational deployment mode as tensions between India and Pakistan escalated," Navy Spokesperson Capt DK Sharma had said, as per PTI.
The naval assets comprising 60 ships of the Indian Navy, 12 ships of the Indian Coast Guard, and 60 aircraft were part part of the theatre level operational readiness exercise (TROPEX 19), which commenced on 19 January in Andaman and Nicobar islands, and was to be concluded on 10 March.
However, the JeM-sponsored Pulwama attack on 14 February led to the rapid redeployment of ships, submarines and aircraft for operations in North Arabian sea, Capt Sharma said.
“The overwhelming superiority of Indian Navy in all three dimensions – on surface, under-sea and in air – forced the Pakistan Navy to remain deployed close to the Makran coast and not venture out in the open ocean,” he said.
Twelve days after the Pulwama attack, Indian fighter jets bombed the Jaish-e-Mohammed's biggest training camp near Balakot deep inside Pakistan on 26 February. Pakistan retaliated by attempting to target Indian military installations next day.
(With inputs from PTI, Reuters)