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| Pic Courtesy-Wikimedia |
When you talk about India, there is no second guess of the fact that India is a predominantly a sea power with three sides surrounded by Oceans. The guardians of these Oceans are the force that is fast emerging as a power to be reckoned with, an emerging blue water power, The India Navy.
From a humble beginning after Independence, Indian navy has grown in complexity and structure down the years and now acts as the ambassador and protector for India in the world arena. As my readers may be well aware, Indian navy consists of three main commands, The western command, The eastern command and the southern command. While southern command is predominantly a training command, the western fleet (considered to be the sword arm of the Indian navy) got the lions share of the assets that was inducted over the years, thanks to it being responsible for the Arabian sea where in it was empowered to control the Pakistani threat. The eastern fleet mandated to secure Indian interests in far east and Bay of Bengal was given a smaller role. But after the economic liberalization and greater interaction with ASEAN and other eastern powers, India gradually started understanding the importance of strengthening the eastern fleet. By 2010, the eastern fleet generally has grown and now rivals the western fleet in magnitude and the number of assets and platforms inducted. With the emergence of China as a major power, the challenges for the Indian navy has only grown over the years. So what are the challenges the force will face in the future and what are it's opportunities? Let us take a brief look:
Indian navy is one of the most powerful in the Indian ocean rim and controls the trade root that sees most of the major business pass. But the real threat the force will face in the near future will be an increasingly assertive China that will try to penetrate into the Indian ocean. They have already started this game with establishing and developing many ports be in in Srilanka or Pakistan. If we learn anything from history, China will be aggressive and they will try to intimidate their opponents into submission. What is required is for the Indian navy is to build sufficient and robust force that can if need be curtail the Chinese navy from the Indian Ocean and limit the same to the Pacific and South China sea. Indian navy has various advantages that cannot be countered by China.The greatest is Andaman Nicobar Isles which is strategically placed to counter any Chinese adventurism by cutting off their main trade route. Over the years I had heard about the Chinese string of pearls strategy. But what has never been countered and properly understood is that China will need to deploy afar from their bases and main land. But for India, say have to tackle the Chinese in Srilanka which is a stone throw away, we can within minutes deploy our air and sea assets and can effectively cut out the entire isles. That asset we need to exploit. In the coming years, Indian navy will also need to cultivate closer relationships with American, Japanese, Philippines, Vietnamese and other navies. It is better to have an alliance and work together rather than countering a threat alone.
Over the years to come, as Indian power and influence grows, India will need to deploy her enforce her interests in lands far away. For the same, Indian navy will be called in to play the crucial role. For that Indian navy will need to deploy high value assets like Carrier Battle Groups (CBG's). To effectively deploy our power, India will need at least 3 CBG's . Indian navy is taking correct steps in this direction and will have two carriers by 2018. But what need to redressed is the increasing delay in inducting high value assets like subs which need to be redressed in a war footing. Also threats like piracy which is also growing in complexity will also need to be tackled which Indian navy will increasingly be called to do along with protecting the Indian sea trade hat is set for a quantum growth. It is India's destiny to be the most powerful country in the world and there is no power on earth who can stand in the way. It is for our leaders to take steps keeping in mind India's strength and confidence of a powerful nation and not stoop before others. Let us speak from our strength not our weakness. It is the call of the time and we need to answer that call now.
VANTE MATHRAM
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