GlobalConflictहिंदी's video: India 3rd Aircraft Carrier INS Vishal

India had given “in principle” approval to the second indigenous carrier way back in the early 2000s. It is the political leadership that is likely to take a call as the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipan Rawat and the Chief of India’s Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh have divergent views on the matter. Admiral Singh is emphatic for the Navy to have a third carrier to match China (the rationale being that while one each would be deployed on the east and west coasts, the third would be in either for maintenance and repairs or on global missions, thereby ensuring the availability of two ships at any point of time). But General Rawat does not seem to be convinced. INS Vishal is supposed to supplement INS Vikramaditya (ex-Admiral Gorshkov), the 46,000-tonne refurbished Russian Kiev-class vessel and INS Vikrant, the 40,262-tonne vessel that will be fully operational next year, following nearly a six-year delay. Both Vikramaditya and Vikrant are “ski-jump” carriers. Therefore, the Indian Navy regards a third “flat-topped” aircraft carrier, the planned 65,000-tonne, with superior power projection capabilities, as a necessity. Besides, if former Navy Chief, Admiral Robin Dhowan, is to be believed, unlike Vikramaditya and Vikrant that run by conventional fuels, Vishal could opt for nuclear propulsion (subsequent reports suggest that the Navy scaled down this plan to bring down the overall cost). On December 3, 2018, the then-Chief of the Naval Staff Sunil Lanba (Admiral Dhowan’s successor) had told the media that the work on INS Vishal had moved ahead and the construction of the ship is expected to begin in 3 years. It was then understood that if everything went well, the carrier would be on the sea in the early 2030s. But that has not happened and work has been stalled for all practical purposes. CDS Rawat’s strong views against it have not helped the matter, particularly when there are severe financial constraints, made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic.