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Showing posts with the label Indian/Chinese Navy

Get Ready, India: China's Navy Is Pushing West ( Source- The National Interest / Author- James Holmes)

CNS Kunming ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / æµ·é˜²å…ˆé”‹) Source- The National Interest Author- James Holmes There are worse things than fleeing the bleak New England midwinter for warmer climes—such as Jaipur, India’s famed “Pink City.” So cold was it when I departed Providence last month that the nozzle on my plane’s fuel hose froze shut, grounding the plane until the crew could unfreeze it. Frolicking around in shirtsleeves at a Mughal dynasty fort in Rajasthan was a welcome relief from frostbite. The occasion for the trip, though, was three days of “quad-plus dialogue” about sundry topics important to Indian Ocean powers. The “quad,” or standing membership for these unofficial “track II” gatherings, refers to India, Australia, Japan and the United States. Sri Lanka is the “plus,” or rotating participant, for this year. Maritime governance in the Pacific and Indian oceans was the subject of my panel. China came up repeatedly during the gathering, which should sho

Will China Have a Mini US Navy By 2020? ( Source - The Diplomat / Author- Prashanth Parameswaran)

PLAN Warships ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons) Source- The Diplomat  Author- Prashanth Parameswaran Much has been written about China’s ongoing efforts to become what President Xi Jinping called a “great maritime power” and how the United States should respond. In light of this, it is useful to think about the future trajectory of the of the increasingly modern and powerful People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), which has been charged with both defending China’s sovereignty in ‘near seas’ (eg. Taiwan) and protecting Chinese interests in the ‘far seas’. Rear Admiral Michael McDevitt, now a senior fellow at the Center for Naval Analyses (CNA), has attempted to do exactly that. In a recent paper delivered at a two-day CNA conference on Chinese maritime power, seen by The Diplomat, McDevitt projects what China’s ‘far seas’ navy will look like in 2020 and how it would rank alongside the United States and other players – Britain, France, Japan, India and Russia. Getting a

Indian Navy- A force in transformation

INS Visakhapatnam ( Image credits- Internet Image) As India launches it's newest Destroyer, the stealthy INS Visakhapatnam, it is time to reflect on the quiet transformation that is taking place for the Indian navy.Indian Navy is in the process of inducting several ships that is highly capable that will see the Indian navy transforming itself to a young and a highly capable force having the capability to project force far away from it's shores achieving a truly blue water capability. OVERVIEW The legacy of the Indian navy dates back to the British raj when as part of the Royal Navy, the Indian navy played a crucial role during the second world war. Soon after the independence, the Royal Indian Navy was partitioned into two parts and assets divided between India and Pakistan. Those were transformative years for the navy. After India became a republic, the navy came to be known as the Indian Navy, dropping the Royal prefix. At this time, the ships of the Indian Navy

China’s Ghost Fleet in the Indian Ocean ( Source- The Diplomat, Author- Franz-Stefan Gady)

PLAN Sailors ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- United States Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Franz-Stefan Gady Today, Defense News ran a very interesting piece attacking the often repeated assertion that China will soon be adding one additional fleet to the three existing ones (the North Sea, East Sea, and South Sea Fleets) it currently operates. This new fleet will allegedly be headquartered in Sanya on Hainan Island and project Chinese naval power into the Indian Ocean. One expert noted in 2014: “There have been reports that China is already creating a fourth fleet that would eventually consist of two Carrier Battle Groups based at Hainan Island. This fleet might be placed directly under the Central Military Commission, the highest military decision-making body, making it a powerful instrument of geopolitical signaling.” Yet, Defense News quotes a Ching Chang, former Taiwan naval officer who now is a fellow at Taiwan’s ROC Society for Strategic Studies

The Mixed Consequences of Sino-Indian Competition in the Indian Ocean ( Source- The Diplomat, Author- Jack Detsch)

Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- Indian Navy) Source- The Diplomat Author- Jack Detsch On Monday, just hours after Air Force One touched down in India, the secret service quickly shuttled a jet-lagged President Obama to New Delhi’s Rajpath or “King’s Way.” There, Obama and Prime Minister Narendra Modi watched India’s finest military hardware parade through the heart of the city. The spectacle probably did not impress Obama, who is accustomed to making speeches atop enormous aircraft carriers. But the timing of his trip is not an accident. He arrived on the eve of the 66th anniversary of the signing of India’s constitution, days after criticizing China in his State of the Union address. “As we speak, China wants to write the rules for the world’s fastest-growing region,” Obama told Congress last Tuesday. “Why would we let that happen?” It’s not the first time the president has taunted China to score political points. But that gesture, and Obama’s decision

China: Getting Ready to Dominate the Indian Ocean? ( Source- The National Interest, Author- Abhijit Singh)

PLAN ship Hongzehu ( Image credits- Wikimedia Commons / Author- United States navy) Source- The National Interest Author- Abhijit Singh  After a PLA-Navy submarine docked twice in Colombo, Sri Lanka last year, there is anxiety among Indian analysts of a renewed thrust by China for a permanent military presence in the Indian Ocean. New Delhi’s policy and strategic circles are abuzz with rumours of a likely Chinese naval base in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). Following reports of increased Chinese naval activity off India’s Southern maritime frontiers, New Delhi has even revived the proposal for an Indian Ocean Zone of Peace, in the hope that it would discourage Beijing from adopting a proactive maritime policy in the Indian Ocean. Chinese maritime forays in the IOR aren’t a new phenomenon. For some time Beijing has been trying to expand its strategic footprint in the Indian Ocean. The increasing frequency of Chinese anti-piracy deployments and naval exercises, as well

Coming to the Indian Ocean, the Chinese Navy: How Should India Respond? ( Copy Right @ The National Interest, Author- James Holmes)

INS Kolkata, D-63 ( Image credits- Indian Navy) Sources- The National Interest Author- James Holmes Chinese submarines prowling South Asia’s briny deep? No longer is this some hypothetical prospect. A nuclear-powered People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) Type 093 Shang-class attack boat was sighted cruising regional waters last winter. Indian naval proponents long maintained that Beijing would cross a redline if it dispatched nuclear subs to the Indian Ocean. It would set Sino-Indian maritime competition in motion—a seesaw process with unforeseeable repercussions. And just last month, a Type 039 Song-class diesel-electric boat put in an appearance in the region, tarrying at Colombo in company with a submarine tender. The Song was presumably en route to counterpiracy duty in the Gulf of Aden. And indeed, these undersea patrols set commentators aflutter on the subcontinent. “China’s Submarines in Indian Ocean Worry Indian Navy,” blared a typical headline. Why get exercised ov