INS Vikrant, a collective effort of all govts since 1999: Congress

New Delhi, Sep 02: Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh on Friday slammed the Central government over the commissioning of INS Vikrant- India's first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier.

Taking to Twitter, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh asked "will PM acknowledge that INS Vikrant is a collective effort of all governments since 1999."

"India's 1st indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant commissioned today is a collective effort of all govts since 1999. Will PM acknowledge it? Let's also recall the original INS Vikrant that served us well in the 1971 war. Much reviled Krishna Menon played a key role in getting it from the UK," Jairam Ramesh wrote on Twitter.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned India's first indigenously designed and built aircraft carrier INS Vikrant here on Friday, that put India into a select league of countries with domestic capability to build such large war ships.

The Prime Minister commissioned the carrier, built at a cost of Rs 20,000 crore, at a function organised at the Cochin Shipyard Limited here. With the commissioning of Vikrant, India joined a select group of nations having the niche capability to indigenously design and build an aircraft carrier.

PM Modi unveiled a plaque to mark the induction of INS Vikrant, named after its predecessor that played a crucial role in the 1971 Indo-Pak war, into the Navy. The carrier is equipped with state-of-the-art features.