Admiral Joshi is New Indian Navy Chief

New Delhi: Admiral Devendra Kumar Joshi, an anti-submarine warfare specialist took over as the new Indian Navy chief.

He succeeds Admiral Nirmal Verma, who retired from service after 43 years of service.

Admiral Joshi, who was till Thursday the Mumbai-based Western Naval Commander, is the 21st navy chief of Independent India and the 19th Indian to take command of the world's sixth largest naval force.

In the morning, Admiral Joshi paid tribute to the country's martyrs by laying a wreath at the Amar Jawan Jyoti in India Gate and inspected an impressive Guard of Honour at the lawns of South Block, the seat of the naval headquarters on Raisina Hill.

Later, in the office of the navy chief, Admiral Verma ceremonially handed over the chief's telescope to Admiral Joshi to mark the handing over of office from the incumbent to the successor.

In his maiden message to the navy, Admiral Joshi indicated his priorities as the new chief. "For the navy to fulfil its mandate as a maritime power for national prosperity, 24x7 attention would need to be paid at all levels to ensure that there are no gaps in our security preparedness," Joshi said.

He emphasised: "To achieve security related objectives, the man-machine interface is crucial and the navy would need to professionally re-audit, train and consolidate its preparedness to optimise the existing capabilities as well as harness the full potential of the transformational new capabilities being inducted."