The INS Vikramaditya in the Arabian sea off the Goa coast. (PTI)

On board the INS Vikramaditya off Goa, June 14: In the seconds that the Dhruv helicopter hovers before landing, the downwash from its rotors scatters the waves on the water, and the vastness of the Vikramaditya, the Indian Navy’s newest aircraft carrier acquired after decades of toil, suddenly becomes real.

As the chopper, suspended above its flight deck, aligns itself to land, one can see through its cockpit windshield and over the ski-jump at the far end of the deck that another carrier, the INS Viraat, has just begun manoeuvring to line-up for a steam-past of the Western Fleet.

Such is the view that Narendra Modi commands as he lands in his Seaking 48 Charlie helicopter minutes after the Dhruv, which has ferried journalists from the naval air station at Dabolim, Goa. No other ruler of an Asian country today can command such a sight.

For a powerful Prime Minister, the view is stunning: not in 30 years has an Indian Prime Minister assumed office when India’s navy is operating two aircraft carriers, each capable of multiplying fire-and-surveillance power by over a thousand miles.

The moment is barely lost on Modi. On landing, he heads straight to a MiG29K fighter aircraft – the main combat arm of the Vikramaditya – that is lashed to the deck with its canopy open.

The chief of naval staff, Admiral Robin Dhowan, and a pilot brief him as Modi, his kurta, pyjamas and blue waistcoat contrasting with the pilot’s G-suit, climbs up a ladder into the cockpit without assistance.

Modi onboard the INS Vikramaditya. (PTI)

He takes off the naval cap he is wearing, looks at the cameras and waves the cap. It’s power projection’s snapshot moment: a brand new PM in a brand new fighter aircraft on a brand new aircraft carrier. Pose over, he goes for another: he pats the pilot.

The Prime Minister’s actions did the talking. A scheduled media interaction was cancelled. But Modi used a meeting with the ship’s company to emphasise what had brought him here.

Even if this meeting was barred to the media, the navy used its new communications satellite -– the Rukmini -– to beam its pictures through government broadcaster Doordarshan to the homes of viewers. (Also a first. As one naval officer put it: “You’ve seen action from land in your drawing rooms; now you can see action in water too.”)

In his brief speech to the officers and sailors, Modi began by underlining the importance of his visit. “I came directly to you after assuming office. This shows my priority and the government’s priority of doing something for the sacrifices you have made.”

The Prime Minister’s day at sea here today was not only his first visit to a field military establishment, it was also his first business trip outside the capital after assuming office.

Tomorrow, he begins his first foreign trip --– to Bhutan. On Friday, he spent more than two hours in the military operations directorate --– or war room -– of the defence ministry in South Block.

In cheating the media of pictures, Modi’s military tour has showcased a Prime Minister with soldierly intent. But one who has missed, for reasons of weather and wherewithal combined, the main purpose --- the raison d’etre ----- of an aircraft carrier.

Fighter aircraft are meant to take off from the Vikramaditya’s flight-deck, carry out operational missions of offence and defence, and land and shelter in it. No such thing happened onboard the VKD (the navy’s short form of the name). The nearest it came to simulating such missions were two touch-and-go sorties by MiG29K aircraft, difficult naval flying manoeuvres in their own way.

The event was marred by rain. Also, not enough naval pilots have been trained yet to be “carrier qualified”. Only 12 pilots have been certified to land and take off from the ship so far. Earlier this month, one made a “hard-landing” that damaged the nose wheel of the plane.

Modi was given a demonstration, though, of the assets of the navy’s Western Fleet (barring submarines) --– its “sword arm” ---- when 14 ships steamed past as he took a salute from the flag deck after two warships, the Tegh and the Tarkash, had fired four anti-submarine missiles to mark the beginning of the show.

Among them were the Viraat, of course, Delhi-class destroyers, four frigates and surveillance aircraft --- including the most recently acquired, US-made P8i --- that flew past.

Inside the VKD, speaking to the sailors, Modi said: “Hum vaade nahin, iraade leke aae hain (I’ve come not with promises but with intent).”

Part of his intent, he said, was to look after the welfare of soldiers by implementing a long-demanded “one rank, one pension” scheme and by finding job opportunities for skilled soldiers who retire early (often as early as 40 years of age).

Much of his intent, he said, though, was to upgrade the technology of the military. One senior naval officer who was at the meeting said he was impressed “with the way Modi linked the importance of maritime security with economic growth”.

Modi emphasised that India’s sea lanes of communication depended on the security of maritime trade that the Indian Navy must guarantee.

“I believe that a country’s security should be at its best for the people to live in ease. New technologies have come, which would add to the strength of the psyche of the defence personnel. INS Vikramaditya is an example of that,” Modi said.

He emphasised too the need to reduce dependence on imports. Nearly 80 per cent of India’s military equipment is imported. The Vikramaditya still has Russian crew on board who have to certify that the Indians are maintaining its systems well and certify the carrier qualification of the MiG29K pilots.

“We are not here to give challenges to anyone, but we will also not take challenges casually. Our defence mechanisms would be the best in the world,” Modi said, referring to delays in procurement and complaints that the armed forces were using outdated technology.

The Vikramaditya, formerly the Admiral Gorshkov, and before that the Baku, was originally designed as a helicopter carrier. Contracted during the tenure of the Vajpayee-led NDA government on January 20, 2004, it was delayed and its price doubled to $2.33 billion before it was finally commissioned in Russia in November last year. The vessel sailed through December, reaching Indian waters in January this year.

The naval base where the VKD is to be home-ported -– Karwar, also called “Project Seabird”, on the north Karnataka coast ---- is also a work in progress, more than 30 years after its execution began. Seabird has yet to conclude its Phase I. Last week, the Centre said it was granting it the approvals for Phase II.

The 44,500-tonne Vikramaditya -– named not after the kings who ruled in ancient and medieval India but because of the word’s Sanskrit meaning, “brave and powerful as the shining sun” --- can be berthed only in Karwar because no other naval dockyard has enough space for a warship its size.

Modi told its crew: “May you shine like the aditya (the sun). May you outshine everything that comes your way.”