President to Witness International Fleet Review on Saturday

New Delhi, Feb 4 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee will witness the country's second International Fleet Review (IFR) on Saturday at Visakhapatnam.

A Rashtrapati Bhavan release said the president, who is the supreme commander of the armed forces, reviews the Indian Naval Fleet once in his or her term as part of the "President's Fleet Review" and this was aimed at assuring the country of the navy's preparedness, high morale and discipline.

The release said the last IFR was conducted in January 2001, off Mumbai with the participation of 29 countries.

The IFR 2016 will be at a much larger scale and will witness participation from 50 countries, the release said.

"The IFR allows the host nation an occasion to display its maritime capabilities and the 'bridges of friendship' it had built with other maritime nations," it said.

The president will reach Visakhapatnam on Friday.