Talks On With Russia For 2nd N-Sub: Antony Visakhapatnam: The 8,140-tonne steel shark floated menacingly, tethered to the jetty, as if waiting to break free. Soon, it will, to prowl silently underwater for extended periods hunting for enemies to track and kill. The nuclear-powered attack submarine INS Chakra, with lethal “hunter-killer’’ and intelligence-gathering capabilities, was formally inducted into Indian Navy on a 10-year lease from Russia at a cost of around $1 billion on Wednesday. Defence minister A K Antony, Navy chief Admiral Nirmal Verma and Russian ambassador Alexander M Kadakin, among others, all extolled the submarine as a “shining example’’ of the deep and abiding “strategic partnership’’ between India and Russia during the “welcome’’ ceremony at the highly-guarded Ship-Building Centre here. INS Chakra, with a dived displacement of 12,000-tonne, will, however, not give India its long-awaited third leg of the nuclear weapons triad since it’s not armed with longrange strategic missiles due to international treaties. That will only happen after the country’s own homegrown nuclear submarine INS Arihant, armed with the nuclear-tipped K-15 missiles, is inducted into service sometime next year. But INS Chakra, propelled by a 190MW nuclear reactor for a maximum speed of around 30 knots, will give India the capability to deploy a potent weapons delivery platform, armed as it is with 300-km Klub-S land-attack cruise missiles and advanced torpedoes, at a place of its choosing at long distances with lot of stealth. “We can outrun and overcome any adversary in our neighbourhood,’’ said a confident INS Chakra’s captain P Ashokan. Admiral Verma said the 100-metre INS Chakra had propelled India into a select group of countries like the US, Russia, France, the UK and China, to operate nuclearpowered submarines. China’s growing maritime presence in the Indian Ocean region (IOR), coupled with its increasing assertiveness in the entire Asia-Pacific region, is obviously a big worry for India. Antony downplayed the China angle as is his wont. “Induction of INS Chakra, or other warships, is not aimed at any country,’’ he said. Nuclear-powered submarines can operate underwater for long periods, with normal patrols stretching to up to 70 days, unlike the conventional diesel-electric submarines that have to surface every three to four days to get oxygen to recharge their batteries. Antony not in race for Prez, says he’s not a ‘mad man’ am not a mad man. I am a Irealist and I know my limitations,” was how defence minister A K Antony reacted when asked whether he was a candidate for the Presidential elections. “There should be a limit to ambition... That is madness,” he said, ruling himself out of the race for Presidential elections in July. PTI Defence minister A K Antony at the INS Chakra’s induction. The submarine cost around $1 billion and is propelled by a 190MW nuclear reactor