India’s decision to recall its aircraft carrier INS Vikrant to the port of Karwar highlights the emptiness of its threats, revealing the Indian Navy’s inability to maintain its stance in the face of Pakistan Navy’s continuous patrolling.
Amid the tensions between the two countries, INS Vikrant was deployed to the Arabian Sea on April 23rd (a day after Pahalgam incident) but on April 25th it unexpectedly returned to the Karwar Naval Base, Karnataka, India.
This was confirmed through latest satellite images.
It is pertinent to mention that aircraft carriers are not usually deployed for just a few days in open waters.
Now, Pakistan Navy’s “carrier killer” missile systems remains active at sea.
INS Vikrant is an aircraft carrier in service with the Indian Navy. The carrier is India’s fourth carrier and the first to be built domestically.
The April 22 attack in Pahalgam killed 26 people, mostly tourists, and is one the deadliest armed attack in the disputed Himalayan region since the year 2000.
Since the incident, the nuclear-armed nations have unleashed a raft of measures against each other, with India unilaterally suspending the critical Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and Pakistan retaliating by threatening to put the Simla Agreement in abeyance and closing its airspace for Indian flights.
India has implied cross-border linkages of the attackers, while Pakistan strongly denied any involvement.
