SRINAGAR, India (AP) – For decades, India has focused its defense policy on its land borders with rivals Pakistan and China. Now, as its global ambitions expand, it has begun to use its naval power on the high seas, including anti-piracy patrols and a widely publicized deployment near the Red Sea to protect ships from attacks during Israel’s war with Hamas. There is.
India launched a guided missile destroyer in November when Yemen-based Houthi rebels in solidarity with Hamas began targeting ships, causing disruption to a vital trade route that handles about 12% of global trade. Three ships and a reconnaissance plane were dispatched.
The deployment highlights the country’s “active contribution” to international maritime stability, the vice admiral said. Anil Kumar Chawlaretired as the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Southern Navy in 2021.
“We are not doing this out of altruism alone. You can never aspire to be a world power unless you are a maritime power,” Chawla said. He said India is already a regional power and is positioning itself as a “world player today and a world power of the future”.
India has made the deployment widely publicized, signaling its desire to assume broader maritime security responsibilities for the world and its growing maritime ambitions vis-à-vis regional rival China.
“This is a message to China that we can send such a large army here. This is our backyard. We don’t own it, but we probably We are the most capable and responsible standing naval power,” Chawla said.
The Indian Navy is supporting at least four ships, three of which were attacked by Houthi rebels and another that the US government blamed on Iran, a charge Iran denies. did. It also conducted several anti-piracy missions.
Iran-backed Houthi rebels have targeted dozens of ships in the Red Sea, saying they are seeking a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. The United States and its allies responded with multiple bombing raids against rebel positions. India has not joined the US-led forces fighting the Houthis.
On January 26, the Indian guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam assisted the crew of a Marshall Islands-flagged tanker in putting out a fire after it was attacked by a missile in the Gulf of Aden. About 10 days earlier, the Visakhapatnam had responded to a distress call from the US-owned Genco Picardi merchant ship following a drone attack in the same area.
“Maritime security has never been a strong pillar of India’s foreign policy in the way we are beginning to see it now,” said Darshana M. Barua, a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “China is a contributing factor to this.”
The rivals are already locked in a military standoff along a disputed border in the mountains.
China has been increasing its presence in the Indian Ocean, an important route for energy supply, for many years. It has the world’s largest navy in terms of number of ships, more than three times the size of the Indian Navy. China also operates a powerful fleet of large coast guard vessels and what it calls a maritime militia consisting of fishing vessels that assist the coast guard in making claims in the South China Sea.
Beijing has deepened its involvement in the Indian Ocean, primarily through infrastructure deals with India’s neighbors, including Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and more recently the Maldives.
“China is seeking more and more naval bases in the expanding Indian Ocean,” said Vice Admiral DS Hooda, a former Indian military officer and current strategic expert. “Looking at that, India has no choice but to continue building its own.”
The Maldives government last week allowed a Chinese research vessel to enter its port. Similar Chinese ships called at Sri Lanka in 2022 and 2023 amid concerns in India that they could be used to monitor the region. Earlier this year, Sri Lanka declared a one-year moratorium on foreign research vessels entering its waters due to Indian concerns.
Experts say increasing competition from China is driving India to acquire more advanced ships, submarines and aircraft, and increase investment in technology and infrastructure. The navy’s share of India’s burgeoning defense budget, which reached $72.6 billion last year, has increased from about 14% to 19%. The Indian military has traditionally received the lion’s share of the military budget.
The Navy also builds strategic partnerships through participation in joint exercises with other nations in the region and beyond.
Barua, who directs the Carnegie Endowment’s Indian Ocean Initiative, said: “Delhi’s strategic thinking should be ocean-oriented, not just as a crisis response option, but also as an arena for advancing India’s most pressing geopolitical and strategic priorities.” We need to do that,” he said. In the Indo-Pacific. ”
India, the United States, Australia and Japan are members of the Indo-Pacific Strategic Alliance, known as the Quad, which reiterates that China is using military force in the South China Sea and aggressively pursuing its maritime claims. I’m blaming. The navies of the four countries regularly hold exercises seen as part of an effort to counter China’s growing assertiveness in the Pacific.
Beijing insists the military is purely defensive, to protect what it claims is its sovereign rights, and that the Quad is an attempt to contain economic growth and influence.
The South China Sea remains a top concern for India’s naval planners, with about 60% of India’s cargo passing through shipping routes in the Beijing-controlled region.
Chawla said India does not have the “power to project power into the South China Sea at this time” because of China’s vast maritime assets there.
“Frankly, when it comes to firefights, India doesn’t really have that capability and the Quad doesn’t have that authority. As you know, India is not yet an alliance like NATO.”
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