Operation Trident | Why India remembers Operation Trident every year

Every year, India celebrates December 4 as Navy Day to commemorate Operation Trident – a key offensive during the 1971 India-Pakistan War, when the Indian Navy inflicted heavy damage on Pakistani vessels in Karachi harbour.

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 The same day also marks the end of Navy Week, which, too, is celebrated annually.

The India-Pakistan War of 1971 had begun on December 3, when the Pakistan Air Force launched pre-emptive strikes on airfields in Western India. India responded by formally declaring war in the wee hours of December 4.

On December 4, under Operation Trident, the Indian Navy sank three vessels near the Pakistani port city of Karachi. The stars of the mission were the then-recently acquired Soviet Osa missile boats, fitted with 4 SS-N-2 (P-15) Styx missiles.

The Indian Air Force also played a crucial role during Operation Trident, when Karachi’s Kemari oil tanks were strafed by the IAF on the same day in an independent operation which it did not claim.