President Murmu to embark on submarine sea sortie in Karwar tomorrow

She will be the second Head of State after late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam to engage in such an exercise

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu, who is also the Supreme Commander of Armed Forces, will embark submarine on sea sortie in a historic naval engagement on Sunday (Dec. 28) at Karwar Harbour.

The sortie is a part of President Murmu’s four-day official tour to Goa, Karnataka and Jharkhand from Dec. 27 to Dec. 30. She will be the only second President to sail in a submarine after late Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who embarked similar sortie aboard INS Sindhurakshak in 2006.

The event will take place at the Karwar Naval Base, home to “Project Seabird”, the largest naval infrastructure project in the Eastern Hemisphere. The submarine sea sortie follows her previous sorties in Rafale fighter jet on Oct. 29 this year and Sukhoi-30 MKI fighter jet in 2023.

President Murmu will arrive in Karwar from Goa on an Army helicopter at 10 am on Dec. 28 and will visit INS Vikrant, India’s first aircraft carrier, following which she will embark submarine sea sortie during which she will stay underwater for some time.

Fishing banned temporarily          

Following President Murmu’s visit to Karwar Harbour the authorities have banned fishing activities around Karwar and Ankola from early morning on Dec. 28 till 3.30 pm. The fishermen have been instructed not to enter the sea with their boats.

Meanwhile, high alert has been sounded at naval base following President Murmu’s visit. Higher officials of Indian Navy have camped in naval base and are overseeing security arrangements.

Following her visit to Karwar Harbour, President Murmu will visit Jamshedpur to take part in the 15th Convocation of National Institute of Technology on Dec. 29 and will preside over the centenary celebrations of the Ol Chiki script later in the day.

The four-day tour concludes on Dec.30 in Gumla also in Jharkhand where the President will participate in the Antarrajyiy Jansanskritik Samagam Samaroh (Inter-state Folk Culture Gathering), also known as the Kartik Jatra.