NEW DELHI, June 1 -- Admiral Krishna Swaminathan on Sunday took charge as India's 27th Chief of the Naval Staff, succeeding Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi, who superannuated after 41 years of distinguished military service. "The Indian Navy stands vigilant to protect national interests and is very actively deployed in a regional security environment that continues to remain challenging, complex, unpredictable, and uncertain. It shall be my highest priority to ensure that the navy maintains the highest level of operational readiness and combat effectiveness so that it can protect the nation's security and economic interests wherever they may be," Swaminathan said. Before assuming charge as navy chief, he was the Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Mumbai-based Western Naval Command. Commissioned into the Indian Navy on July 1, 1987, Swaminathan is a communication and electronic warfare specialist and has held a wide range of operational, staff and training appointments during a nearly four-decade career. The navy is well set on a course of capability enhancement and modernisation, he said. "It shall be my endeavour to sustain the navy's growth momentum, consolidate all ongoing programmes, scale up where required, and sharpen our operational capabilities through the induction of niche and emerging technologies as soon as I can," he said. The navy is deeply committed to jointness, atmanirbharta and indigenisation and that will also be one of his focus areas, he said. "From here on, I will devote every single day of my life to making the navy a better, stronger, sharper and more impactful service so that it can best serve the interests of national security, national development and national economic prosperity," Swaminathan said. He is an alumnus of the National Defence Academy, Khadakwasla; the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Shrivenham, UK; the College of Naval Warfare in Karanja; and the US Naval War College in Rhode Island. His sea commands include the guided missile vessels INS Vidyut and INS Vinash, guided missile corvette INS Kulish, guided missile destroyer INS Mysore and aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya. He also served as the chief staff officer for training at the Southern Naval Command and established the Indian Naval Safety Team to oversee operational safety....