SP Guide Publications puts forth a well compiled articulation of issues, pursuits and accomplishments of the Indian Army, over the years
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My compliments to SP Guide Publications for informative and credible reportage on contemporary aerospace issues over the past six decades.
Interview
Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral Sureesh Mehta, PVSM, AVSM, ADC, in an interview to Editor-in-Chief Jayant Baranwal and Editorial Adviser Rear Admiral (Retd) S.K. Ramsay, enumerated on the advancements and achievements of the Indian Navy (IN) on several fronts. In the first instalment of a two-part series, we bring you excerpts of the discussion highlighting largely the operational aspects.
SP Guide Publications (SP’s): The Indian Ocean Region (IOR) has emerged as a hotbed of piracy, hijacking on the high seas, acts of terror, arms pedalling and drug trafficking, etc. Has any framework for co-operative engagement been formalised by the regional navies, so as to jointly combat such threats?
Chief of the Naval Staff (CNS): It is regrettable but true that the Indian Ocean littoral is beset by a number of security-related challenges that include, inter alia, the sea-borne trafficking of drugs, arms, and human beings; robbery, armed robbery, hijacking, and other forms of maritime crime; marine pollution, poaching, piracy, terrorism, etc. As if all these were not challenges enough, the region is also the locus of 70% of the world’s natural disasters. Today, I think it would be fair to state that every navy and sate-run maritime-security agency of the IOR understands quite clearly that these common challenges can only be met through common response-mechanisms. Consequently, in February 2008, driven by the need to address regional vulnerabilities by capitalising upon regional strengths, the Chiefs-of-Navy of very nearly all littoral states of the IOR gathered in New Delhi, both in assembly and in conclave, to launch the Twenty First Century’s first significant international maritime-security initiative namely, the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium, or IONS. That the launch of so important a regional initiative was able to meet with such wide acceptance across the length and breadth of the Indian Ocean was in itself a unique phenomenon but one representative of a region that has come into its own and is ready to evolve a broad consensus in facing the myriad security challenges that face it within the maritime domain. IONS seeks to provide a regional forum through which the Chiefs-of-Navy of all the littoral states of the IOR can periodically meet to constructively engage one another through the creation and promotion of regionally relevant mechanisms, events, and activities. I believe that the IONS movement constitutes the keys to freeing us from the many challenges that face us in the maritime domain. My fellow Chiefs-of-Navy and I think that we have begun our work well, and, with the support of like-minded navies, we are confident that we will be able to bring about a future that is free from petty rivalries, so as to be better able to successfully meet the many common security-challenges that confront all of us in the maritime reaches of our region.
(SP’s): A major sub-set of the Maritime Perspective Plan is the 30-Year Submarine Plan for the IN. With the upgradation of capabilities of 877 EKM submarines, planned induction of the Scorpene Class and opening of the second line of submarine construction for the Amur Class, how would you like to define the roles and responsibilities for the submarine arm to emerge a vibrant force-multiplier for the IN?
CNS: Conventionally-propelled submarines are principally platforms of sea denial and, if armed with suitable missiles, could have some limited land-attack capability as well. These are very critical roles that rely heavily upon stealth and staying-power and the utility of our present and future submarines is based upon these very capabilities. It is true that our submarine-induction is guided by our 30-Year Submarine Plan, which is an important sub-set of the overall Maritime Capability Perspective Plan. It is not true that we have already decided upon the class of submarine to be built in the second line. In broad terms, however, you must remember that the navy’s induction plan and her de-induction plan run side-by-side. So even by 2025, we expect to have a submarine force not much larger than our present one in terms of numbers, but certainly one that is adequately equipped to meet the operational requirements of the future.
SP’s: Recent reports indicate that China is upgrading base facilities close to India’s maritime boundaries at Coco Islands in Myanmar. In the Indian context what are the maritime security imperatives of such developments, and to what extent would this dimension be factored into the force-development process for the IN?
CNS: The Union of Myanmar is a sovereign nation for whom we have the same high respect as we do for all other nations. We believe that every nation has the right to establish friendly and beneficial relations with others, in accordance with its own national interests. As a navy, we realise that there are no zero-sum games in international relations and we have sufficient confidence in our own national and maritime capabilities as not to feel threatened by any country’s legitimate relations within another. We are assured that there are no activities on the Coco Islands that are inimical to our own national and maritime interests and we have no reason to believe otherwise.