INS Vikrant: Owaisi should rejoice, not criticise, says BJP

HYDERABAD: MIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Friday congratulated the Indian Navy and Cochin Shipyard for commissioning India’s first indigenously made aircraft carrier, ‘INS Vikrant’. Owaisi said the ship's commissioning by Prime Minister Narendra Modi had seen the shipyard’s hard work pay off.

Owaisi said India needed a third aircraft carrier in addition to ‘INS Vikramaditya’ and ‘INS Vikrant’, an issue Modi needs to address. The naval fleet also needs to reach the required strength of 200 ships from the current 130. “Why is the Prime Minister not permitting the third aircraft carrier to be built and augment the fleet? This is because the economic policies of the Modi government have bankrupted the country and the government has no money,” Owaisi said.

He said that now that Modi had seen INS Vikrant, he would pick up enough courage to name China for its illegal occupation of Indian territory and call for a Parliament session to discuss this issue.

However, Owaisi’s comments received immediate condemnation from the state BJP’s official spokesperson N.V. Subhash who said, “Instead of applauding the country on this special moment, Owaisi took his usual stance of spreading negativity. He is not a security analyst and should drop his political posturing and for once, should rejoice in the country’s success.”

He also criticised Owaisi saying the AIMIM leader was spreading falsehoods about the Chinese occupation of Indian territory. “The Modi government is more than proactive in tackling any incursion,” he said.