India’s first indigenous nuclear submarine INS Arihant has successfully completed its first deterrence patrol. The achievement has been lauded by the top leadership of country lead by President Ramnath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The INS Arihant completes India’s nuclear triad by adding maritime strike capability to land- and air-based delivery platforms. All the big five nuclear nations — the US, Russia, France, China and the UK are already full-fledged nuclear triad powers. This comes at a time when India is increasingly facing hostility from neighbours like Pakistan and China.
Having successfully completed the “deterrence patrol”, the 6000-tonne INS Arihant can now be considered a fully functional underwater ballistic missile delivery platform. A ballistic missile submarine is a strategic asset as it can fire city-destroying missiles from anywhere in the ocean and remain undetected for a long time. It can sneak closer to the coast of an enemy nation and fire ballistic missiles deep into their territory, which otherwise cannot be reached by land-based short-range ballistic missiles. The successful completion of trial of INS Arihant once again shows the capabilities of Indian scientists. It is an indigenously constructed submarine. Organizations like DRDO and HAL have played a crucial role in strengthening the defence of the country. Often they have been unfairly criticized and overlooked by the government. But despite this, the defence PSUs continues to work zealously to safeguard the nation.