Replica of Indian ship that helped liberate Bangladesh displayed in Mumbai

The Indian Navy has installed the replica of an aircraft carrier that helped to liberate Bangladesh during the Liberation War in 1971, near the Regal circle in south Mumbai this month.

Naval Ship (INS) Vikrant, was India's first aircraft carrier. Indian navy put a replica display as a tribute to the vessel, reports the Indian Express. 

The 10.5-meter-long replica was installed on a traffic island.

"INS Vikrant was close to the hearts of all Indian naval personnel. So, the Navy decided to make a scaled model replica of the ship as a tribute to its legacy," said Lieutenant Bishnu, project officer for designing the replica.

The warship played a pivotal role in the Liberation of Bangladesh by strangulating Pakistani forces.

"INS Vikrant was deployed as the flagship of the Eastern Fleet in the Bay of Bengal a few months before the war in preparation. The Sea Hawk, fighter aircraft and Alize maritime reconnaissance aircraft flew from INS Vikrant, bombarded East Pakistan's ports and infrastructure, and established the Navy's supremacy in the Bay of Bengal. They destroyed several installations and sank Pakistani merchant ships and gunships. They effectively sealed the escape route for the Pakistani Army attempting to flee from East to West. That is why there were more than 90,000 prisoners of war. Together, the carrier-borne aircraft flew close to 300 sorties. And all this with zero casualty," said Commodore Srikant Kesnur, an Indian Navy historian.

The aircraft was bought from the United Kingdom and was inducted into the Indian Navy in 1961 and was rechristened Vikrant, meaning courage.

After 36 years of service, it was decommissioned in January 1997.