Opinion and commentary

The importance of a strong Navy for India has been acknowledged since Independence but this has not been translated into practice. India is a peninsula jutting out into the Indian Ocean and has a coastline of 7,000 km. It lies astride the main sea lines of communication, westwards towards the Arabian Sea and eastwards towards the Bay of Bengal and South China Sea. It lies at the centre of the new strategic ocean space of the Indo-Pacific, dominating the maritime routes which connect the Indian Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. But this locational advantage can only be sustained and expanded upon through the maintenance of a strong Navy relative to the naval forces deployed in the Indian Ocean by other major powers.