Last month India became the fifth nation with the capability to indigenously design and build its own aircraft carrier. INS Vikrant, as the new carrier is called, was launched by the defense minister with great fanfare signaling India's coming of age as a global naval power.
This launch followed the announcement that the reactor in India's first indigenously built nuclear-powered submarine (SSBN), INS Arihant, has gone critical, marking a turning point in New Delhi's attempt to establish a nuclear triad.
But the celebrations came to an abrupt end when, two days after the launch of the aircraft carrier, INS Sindhurakshak, one of the 10 Kilo-class submarines that form the backbone of India's aging conventional submarine force, sank with 18 crew members after explosions at the naval dockyard in Mumbai.