The destroyer will be under the Western Naval Command based in Mumbai. (File)
The Indigenously built stealth guided-missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam was formally "affiliated" to this port city on Sunday.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral R Hari Kumar, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of Eastern Naval Command Vice-Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta and other top officials attended the ceremonial event at the ENC headquarters, on the sidelines of the ongoing multilateral maritime exercises MILAN-2022.
INS Visakhapatnam has been docked in the 'City of Destiny' for the past few days, and been a participant in the President's Fleet Review on February 21 and now the MILAN-2022.
Built in the Mazgaon Docks "with 75 per cent Indian content", INS Visakhapatnam was commissioned into the Navy in December 2021.
The destroyer will be under the Western Naval Command based in Mumbai.
"Earlier we had ships named after Delhi, Mumbai, Kochi and Mysore. This is, however, the first formal affiliation ceremony so that people of the city can feel proud, reflecting the city's maritime character and its association with the Navy over a long period," Admiral Hari Kumar remarked on the occasion.
INS Visakhapatnam was also a reflection and celebration of 'Aatmanirbharta' of our country, he added.
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