Indian Maritime Foundation Seminar 2017
Introduction
The Annual IMF Seminar on “Indian Maritime Paradigm, the Past, Present and Future” was conducted on the 10th of August was attended by a record 111 persons from all walks of life; serving flag and senior officers from the Navy and Army, Veterans from the Navy (including two former Commanders in Chief) and Air Force (including a former Chief of Air Staff and a former Vice Chief of Air Staff), a former Diplomat, Senior Academicians, Captains of Major Software and Shipbuilding Companies, Research Scholars, and many more.
Welcome Address by Cmde Rajan Vir (Retd), President IMF
Cmde Rajan Vir, President IMF welcomed all present in his welcome address. Vice Admiral Pasricha, Head of the Combined Study Group, made the Inaugural address, and set the tone for later speakers.
Keynote Address by Chief Guest, VAdm AR Karve AVSM, FOC-in-C SNC
Vice Admiral AR Karve AVSM, Flag Officer Commanding in Chief Southern Naval Command was the Chief Guest and delivered the Keynote Address, His well articulated talk was widely reported in the Pune Edition of two of India’s leading National Dailies.
Session I
The First Session was Moderated by Vice Admiral SCS Bangara. The Speakers were Commodore G Prakash, Commanding Officer INS Venduruthy, Commodore Srikant Kesnur, Director Maritime Warfare Centre, Mumbai and Capt Sudhir Naphade, Former Nautical Advisor to the Govt. of India. While Commodore Prakash spoke about India’s Maritime Heritage, putting into perspective the myth of our glorious maritime past, Commodore Kesnur spoke about the growth and development of the Indian Navy from 1947 to 2017, and aptly titled his talk ‘Indian Navy @ 70’. Capt Naphade traced the growth of India’s Merchant Navy since 1947, and the challenges faced at present. These talks were extremely well-researched and a heady mix of serious facts and well-timed humour, which had the audience in rapt attention. Vice Admiral Bangara conducted the Q & A session with panache and summed up the session succinctly, adding his expertise of the subject.
It was music to the ears when Air Chief Marshal PV Naik, former Chief of Air Staff said, “In my 42 years of service and in the five years since my retirement in 2012, I have not seen a more professionally organized seminar as this one …”.
Session II
After a sumptuous lunch, the second session began, with Rear Admiral Sanjay Vadgaokar as the Moderator. The Speakers were <r. Jayant Patil, Senior VP and Board Member, L&T, Cmde Mukesh Bhargava Vice President L&T, Mr Anil Rao, Co-Founder and Chief Consultant at Foundation Consultancy, and Rear Admiral G. Vishwanathan, Flag Officer Doctrines and Concepts. Mr Patil spoke about India’s Shipbuilding Industry through the ages – the highs and the lows, and what we need to make India a shipbuilding hub once again, especially for commercial ships. Cmde Mukesh Bhargava spoke about the advances made in the field of Ship Design and Shipbuilding especially in the construction of modern warships, and the state of the art technology being utilized. Mr. Anil Rao brought the importance of ship repairs and the huge potential market just waiting to be tapped. His hard hitting talk emphasized the need for the authorities to wake up and take a serious view of the woeful state of this industry and the crying need to help build it up. Rear Admiral Vishwanathan was entrusted the task of stargazing, and look ahead 20 years to pragmatically determine where we should be in 2035. His well presented picture of the shape of things as they would be, both geopolitically and geo-economically through well articulated facts and figures. He wound up by explaining how the Indian Navy is preparing to face the anticipated challenges. This was followed by a talk by Mr Suman Bose, Senior Director of Siemens Software, one of our sponsors. He brought out how technology is changing the way we live and what the near future beholds for us, through simple day to day examples. He ended with the question – are we “Cyborgs” already? The Session was summed up by Rear Admiral Sanjay Vadgaokar in his trade mark easy going style. He brought out the need for all present to sit up and take serious note of the challenges we are facing and think of ways and means to overcome them.
Concluding Session
After presenting mementoes to the Moderators and Speakers, Commodore Rajan Vir requested for the microphone and was most wax eloquent in not only thanking the convener (Commodore Ajay Chitnis), but also praising him for the conduct of an excellent seminar. Thus ended the 11th Annual seminar conducted by the IMF. Our sincerest thanks to the Sponsors _ M/s Siemens and M/s Krasny Defence Systems.
