India is working with other navies in the Indo-Pacific, but is not looking at any military alliances, the Navy chief, Admiral R. Hari Kumar, has said.
The Indian Navy is part of a number of initiatives as dialogue is important and the aim is to avoid conflicts, he said. It was important, he added, to engage closely with other navies and ensure that there are regional solutions to regional problems
The Navy chief was replying to questions about alliances with other navies in view of China’s growing strength and also, aggression in the Indo-Pacific. For over a decade, China has had six to ten warships in the Indian Ocean at any time. The Indian Navy, he said, keeps track of their movements, including in Djibouti, in eastern Africa and Bangladesh. Djibouti is China’s first overseas base. He said he is aware of the submarine base China is building in Pekhua, in Bangladesh, and the developments were being monitored.
Exercise Malabar, the naval exercise, that China has often been critical of, he said has become more complex. The next exercise, he added, will be off the coast of Australia. India, Japan, Australia and the United States of America are part of the exercise. There are currently no plans to “expand Malabar,” he said, by including more countries.
The Chinese Navy has been growing rapidly. In the last ten years, he said, China has built 148 warships and India, about 30-32. But India is going ahead with building another 41 ships and submarines and has plans to work on 51 in the near future.
Speaking about maritime terrorism, the Navy chief spoke of Pakistan’s policy of harbouring terrorism and added that after the 26/11 attack planned and executed by Islamabad, a lot of changes have taken place in terms of detection of rogue ships and action against them.. But there are still challenges that have to be overcome.
