With two carriers, India's plan is to have one stationed on each coast, said Capt. 'The 30-month-long Sino-Indian military impasse in the Himalayas and China's strategic posturing in the South China Sea should be clear pointers for India's decision-makers that maritime power will have a critical role to play as an instrument of state policy in future outcomes,' Prakash wrote in December in The Indian Express.

Retired Indian navy chief Arun Prakash suggested that experience could make the seas more important in the event of a future conflict. The skirmish turned into a long standoff in the rugged mountainous terrain where each side has tens of thousands of military personnel. India and China clashed on their land border in 2020, with 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers killed.

Its fleet also includes 10 destroyers, 12 frigates and 20 corvettes. It currently has two such subs and plans for two more, as well as nuclear-powered attack submarines. Like China, India has nuclear weapons and has been building nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines as part of its 'nuclear triad' of air, sea and land-based platforms. The Indian navy's recent modernization track is to ensure that scenarios like these will not take root,' Rahmat said. 'While a potential war with China will likely be fought inland, China's presence in the Indian Ocean region can severely disrupt India's sea lines of communication, which will be essential in sustaining the war effort. 'New Delhi sees Beijing as encroaching into its traditional sphere of influence, especially in the Indian Ocean region,' said Ridzwan Rahmat, a Singapore-based analyst with the defense intelligence company Janes. It already has other vessels operating regularly in the region and has established its first overseas base in the Horn of Africa country of Djibouti, which gives it easy access to the Indian Ocean.Ĭhina set off alarm bells in New Delhi in August when it docked what India called a 'spy ship' in Sri Lanka's Hambantota port off of India's southern coast, a facility that was leased to China in 2017 for 99 years. Defense Department says it will have the ability to conduct 'long-range precision strikes against land targets from its submarine and surface combatants' in the 'near term.'Īs Beijing increases its naval presence around Taiwan and pushes its claims in the South China Sea, the U.S., Britain and other allies have responded with regular naval exercises in the region and passages through the Taiwan Strait as they pursue a policy of a 'free and open Indo-Pacific.'Ĭhina has not yet sailed an aircraft carrier into the Indian Ocean but is expected to do so within the next few years. In June, it launched its first domestically designed and built aircraft carrier, the country's third overall, as part of a program to extend its range and power and become more of a 'blue water' force that can operate globally.Īt the same time, China's People's Liberation Army has undertaken massive investment in ballistic and cruise missile technology, and the U.S. 'This really gives India an option to display its ability to counter China within the Indian Ocean, which is the Indian navy's priority.'Ĭhina's People's Liberation Army Navy has been expanding and modernizing for more than a decade and is now the world's largest. 'This is significant in terms of India's power projection capabilities, primarily within the Indian Ocean,' said Viraj Solanki, a London-based expert on Indo-Pacific defense with the International Institute for Strategic Studies. Personal Loans for 670 Credit Score or Lower Personal Loans for 580 Credit Score or Lower Best Debt Consolidation Loans for Bad Credit

Us carrier battle group cost