Cmde Anil Jai Singh (retd)

The measure of a nation’s maritime power is reflected in the strength of its navy which is also one of the most powerful instruments for the furtherance of its foreign policy objectives. This has been borne out by history where maritime power has been the precursor to great power status.

In recent history too, the ‘sun never set on the British Empire’ for two centuries because ‘Britannia ruled the waves’. ‘Pax Britannica’ gave way to ‘Pax Americana’ in the post-World War II global order. The United States of America emerged as the global superpower with the US Navy being the globally dominant navy with a significant global footprint. This dominance continues to this day.

The erstwhile Soviet Union too needed a Gorshkovian naval vision in its own bid to become a superpower. As we advance further into the 21^st century, it is China’s remarkable resurgence, breath-taking in its scope and implementation which is seeking to challenge US supremacy; it has set a deadline three decades from now (2049) to become the numero uno global superpower. In pursuit of this objective, its ‘Mahanian’ approach to seek global dominance is reflected in its emergence as the world’s leading maritime power, its focus on building a powerful navy and its intent to control the global waterways through its ‘securonomic’ programmes like the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

[caption id="attachment_8259" align="alignnone" width="800"] INS Kalvari[/caption]

In the last four years or so, India too has taken several foreign policy initiatives to assert its pre-eminence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and to engage actively with a wider geographical expanse in what is now called the Indo-Pacific. This proactive approach has led the navy to maintain a hitherto unprecedented operational tempo and has established its credentials as the leading maritime power in the region

As India looks further afield from its shores to pursue its maritime interests, the Indian Navy (IN) will be called upon to play a larger role in addressing the inevitable security challenges that will arise. In the last year or so, the IN has re-oriented its concept of operations to include mission-based deployments wherein at least 15 IN ships are deployed at any time across the Indo-Pacific in furtherance of our national objectives.

The IN has responded admirably to this task with deft management of its operational and maintenance cycles despite limited resources and extended periods at sea which reflects its institutional strength, professionalism and commitment. However, as the navy’s role increases as the primary instrument of India’s increasing emphasis on the maritime domain, it will need an optimum mix of platforms, both qualitatively and quantitatively to fulfil its roles and missions and for the nation to be considered a credible maritime power.

Navies take time to build and capabilities take even longer to master. The IN has been making steady strides in capability development; the recent successful completion of a deterrence patrol by INS Arihant, the indigenously built ballistic missile armed nuclear submarine (SSBN) being a significant achievement which added a new dimension to India’s strategic capability. It marked the successful completion of the sea-based third leg of the nuclear triad; the submarine is the most effective of the triad in deterring a pre-emptive first strike as it provides an invulnerable second-strike capability and thereby establishes the credibility of ‘No First Use’ which is the cornerstone of India’s nuclear doctrine. This achievement was duly recognised by the Prime Minister himself when he felicitated the crew of the submarine on 5 November 2018, congratulated all those associated with this programme and conveyed a strong message indicating India’s strategic intent

It also vindicated India’s technological skills, political maturity, big power aspirations and naval professionalism. India is only the sixth nation in the world with this capability, the others being the five permanent members of the Security Council — USA, Russia, France, UK and China.

From a naval perspective, the ability to operate, deploy and maintain SSBNs which are among the most complex machines known to man reaffirms the IN’s credentials as a full spectrum multi-dimensional blue water navy. However, this is still a work in progress as deterrence becomes credible only when the country can ensure a constant presence of at least one SSBN on a deterrence patrol for which a minimum of three SSBNs are required.