January 20, 2002	Sunday	Ziqa’ad 5, 1422

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NEW DELHI, Jan 19: India and France are soon expected to sign an agreement for construction of submarines for the Indian navy, Chief of Indian Naval Staff, Admiral Madhvendra Singh, said on Saturday.

Singh informed reporters in the southern city of Kochi that talks in this respect were in an advanced stage.

The project envisages construction of a fleet of 24 submarines, with engines and some other parts to be provided by France and the rest to be constructed by India under a 12-year time-bound programme, Singh said.

The admiral, who spoke on the country’s naval capability, fire power and readiness for action in case of an attack by Pakistan, said “the Indian Navy has the assured capability to cause such damages to the other side which the opposition would never have imagined”.

Asked whether the navy had nuclear warheads, he said: “Conceptually any country which assures of ‘no first use’ has a second strike capability and would always have a triad of weapons on land, air and at sea.”—dpa