India on Wednesday commissioned three warships simultaneously, including the submarine INS Vagsheer, destroyer INS Surat, and stealth frigate INS Nilgiri P17A.
This is being seen as a counter to China’s strong presence in the Indian Ocean.
95 percent of India’s trade passes through the Indian Ocean region and the increasing presence of the Chinese Navy here has increased challenges for India.
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said that the importance of the Atlantic Ocean has shifted towards the Indian Ocean, which is becoming the center of rivalry among international superpowers.
The Defense Minister said, “India is paying maximum attention to making its Navy strong to protect its interests.”
While commissioning three warships from the government-run Mazagon Dockyard in Mumbai, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “The commissioning of three major naval warships is a significant leap towards realizing India’s vision of becoming a global leader in defense manufacturing and maritime security.”
But the question remains as to how successful India will be in balancing the Chinese Navy in the Indian Ocean.
India’s strength in maritime security increased
With the commissioning of the conventional submarine INS Vagsheer on Wednesday, India now has 16 submarines.
This has increased India’s capability in Indian maritime security from the Indian Ocean to the Bay of Bengal.
But defense experts say that the situation in the Indian Ocean region is becoming challenging due to the rapid strengthening of India’s main rival, the Chinese Navy.
Defense analyst Rahul Bedi told BBC Hindi, “The new commissioning aims to replace the aging Indian underwater fleet and reduce the gap in capabilities at present.”
“The P75 Scorpion submarine project, Bedi said, shows India’s growing expertise in the field of submarine construction in collaboration with the Naval Group of France.”
He said that ‘INS Vagsheer submarine is the sixth conventional diesel-electric submarine of the Kalvari (Scorpion) class to be built on French license.’
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is going to France for the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit to be held in Paris next month and during this time an agreement for three more Scorpion submarines may be signed.
India commissioned its first indigenously built aircraft carrier in 2022 to balance the strength of China’s rapidly growing fleet in the Indian Ocean.
INS Vikrant is India’s second aircraft carrier, which is in use. The first aircraft carrier is the Soviet-era INS Vikramaditya, which was bought from Russia in 2004 to protect the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal.
Submarine capacity
India now has a total of 16 submarines, of which six are modern while 10 submarines are 29 to 34 years old, of which two or three are on the verge of retirement.
Talks have been going on for the last few years for six more submarines. A deal for three more conventional submarines may be struck in the next two to three months.
But the path of the Indian Navy is not so easy.
Rahul Bedi says, “The newly commissioned INS Vagsheer submarine does not have an independent propulsion system, due to which it will have to surface only after two to three days.”
“Due to this system, a conventional submarine can operate underwater for 15 to 20 days. India’s six submarines do not have this system, due to which they usually have to come out of water in two to three days.”
He says, “Apart from this, weapons like torpedoes are not yet installed in INS Vagsheer. The contract for torpedoes was canceled in 2017-18. Westland Company, which makes VIP helicopters, used to make torpedoes.”
“The submarine was designed accordingly. But when the deal was canceled after the Westland scam, this deal also got stuck. Now the submarine has been commissioned but there are no torpedoes.”
Rahul Bedi says that ‘delay in decisions regarding the defense sector is the biggest obstacle to the development of the Indian Navy.’
Indian Navy’s obstacles
Generally, India’s focus is more on the long land border, because it has a long border with rival countries like Pakistan and China.
Rahul Bedi says, “Most of the focus is on land borders like Ladakh or the Line of Actual Control with Pakistan. The maritime border has not received the same attention. The focus of policymakers has also been less and funds have also not been given as much.”
Apart from this, India is still far behind China in defense manufacturing.
According to Rahul Bedi, “The submarines, frigates, and destroyers that India recently commissioned together took three to four years to build.”
“While the speed of production in China is very fast. China takes a maximum of 10 months or 12 months to build a frigate or destroyer. They even can build a nuclear submarine within a year.”
Giving the example of nuclear submarines on the delay in production, he says, “The Indian Navy operates two nuclear submarines. Our nuclear program started in 1974 and the first nuclear submarine was inducted into the Navy in 2016.”
The second nuclear submarine INS Arighat was commissioned in August 2024.
How powerful is the Chinese Navy?
Rahul Bedi says that there is a ‘huge difference’ between the Chinese and Indian Navy.
He says, “The Chinese Navy has 600 warships above and below water. It has three aircraft carriers and 50 submarines, including 15 nuclear submarines. Whereas the Indian Navy has about 145 warships.”
“In the last five years, the Chinese Navy has expanded its area a lot. The Chinese Navy operates in the Gulf region from Gwadar port in Pakistan and the Indian Ocean from Hambantota port in Sri Lanka. They also have a significant presence in Myanmar. Apart from this, they influence Maldives and Bangladesh.”
According to him, in a way, the Indian Navy is surrounded by the Chinese Navy from all sides.
In such a situation, it is difficult to compete with it and the Indian Navy also believes that the presence of China and the threat posed by it is increasing.
According to Bedi, China’s ambition is to regain its dominance over the region of its old imperial era.
He says, “It should be remembered that the Navy is the oldest service among the three armies of China and its importance is also more than the other two armies. The Navy has a much higher share of its defense budget than the other two armies. On the other hand, the share of the Indian Navy in the defense budget is the lowest compared to the other two armies.”
China’s strategy in the Indian Ocean
The strategy that China seems to be developing in the Indian Ocean is known as the “String of Pearls”.
It includes the construction and protection of strategically important ports and infrastructure in countries around the Indian Ocean that can be used for military purposes if needed.
These “Pearls” are believed to be being built to help build strategic relations with many countries on the sea routes from the Middle East to the South China Sea to protect China’s energy interests and security purposes.
China is building ports in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa and Gwadar in Pakistan. It has also taken Hambantota in Sri Lanka on a 99-year lease.
Chinese naval activities are also on Myanmar’s Coco Island.
These ports help China to increase its naval reach and influence in the Indian Ocean region.
Why is the Indian Ocean region so important?
According to news agency AP, 95 percent of India’s maritime trade takes place through the Indian Ocean. While 70 percent of the world’s maritime trade from east to west and west to east also passes through this region.
In such a situation, any area automatically becomes an area of rivalry.
Rahul Bedi says, “That is why the Indian Ocean region has great strategic importance and its importance will increase further in the coming times.”
China does not want the US to dominate this region. Currently, the US Navy has 12 aircraft carriers, which are very important in terms of maritime power.
But Rahul Bedi says that ‘China has developed a missile system to counter this, which is called AD (Air Denial Missile) technology.’
He says, “It is installed on land and its range is 300 to 500 kilometers. This scares the US aircraft carriers because if they are hit by it, they become completely useless. China is also giving this system to Pakistan, which will create problems for India as well.”
“Apart from this, it is also giving submarines to Pakistan, due to which the capacity of Pakistan’s navy has increased. This will be the first Chinese-made submarine commissioned in Pakistan’s navy.”
Rahul Bedi says, “Due to the Air Independent Propulsion System, the capacity of the Pakistani navy will increase a bit compared to the conventional submarine of the Indian Navy. For the last 18 years, the Indian Navy has been talking about installing this system but no decision has been taken yet.”
He says, “There is a long process for the Indian Defense Ministry to make purchasing decisions, which greatly impacts the development of the Navy. India will have to speed up the decision-making process.”
