Boosting India’s naval capabilities is one of the best ways the United States can counter Beijing’s rising power in the Indian Ocean, an expert in South Asian security said Wednesday, US Naval Institute News reports.
Speaking at the Stimson Center, Christopher Clary, who teaches at the University of Albany, said Washington would be “least conflicted about [the Indian navy] finding and destroying” Chinese warship if crisis turned to conflict.
India is already a “naval nuclear power,” he added. India has two ballistic missile submarines in its fleet and a third under construction. Its K-4 sea-launched intermediate-range nuclear-capable ballistic missile remains in the testing stage. News reports put the K-4’s range at about 2,200 miles [3,500 kilometers].
New Delhi is also a growing naval power in a region known historically for land wars, like those between Pakistan and India and China and India. Its maritime disputes over territory as was the case between Myanmar and Bangladesh were usually settled through arbitration, Indian Rear Adm. (ret.) Monty Khanna said in the panel discussion.
Clary pointed out in this new era of Great Power competition the Indian Ocean has taken on greater importance since China receives 80 percent of its energy imports across its waters. One-third of the global trade moving containerized cargo ships passes through the Indian Ocean, he added.
“It is part of the global commons,” Khanna said that is now challenged by China’s insecurity over its energy supply from the Middle East. In addition, Houthi missile and unmanned aerial system attacks and piracy have caused a shift in trading routes. At the same, heightened tensions over control of fisheries in disputed exclusive economic zones have shown nations like Sri Lanka they need better maritime domain awareness to protect valuable food supplies.
Pointing to the Quad, the informal security arrangement among Washington, New Delhi, Tokyo and Canberra, Clary added he presumed there was “very deep and wide-ranging intelligence sharing” between India and the United States when it comes to China.
A priority of the Quad has been developing better maritime awareness for other nations in the Indo-Pacific to protect their interests and sovereignty.
Rizwanna Abbasi, an associate professor at the National University of Modern Languages in Islamabad, Pakistan, said, there are “emerging alliances” in these “newly contested waters” that are changing relations regionally. She pointed to India and Pakistan’s building of submarines, more surface warships, as well as unmanned systems and investments in cyber to defend their interests. While Pakistan has no aircraft carriers to India’s two, Islamabad has 85 aircraft assigned to its naval forces.
With only two ballistic missile submarines now in the Indian Fleet, Khanna said 24/7 continuous patrols are difficult. In addition, “it’s a steep learning curve” to keep vessels continuously at sea and operationally effective.
But for now, Indian “deterrence has been established” with China and Pakistan, both possessing nuclear weapons, he said. Abbasi added, Pakistan “seeks to ensure its second strike capability.” Pakistan’s strategic interests lay in “trying to make it hard for easy victories” if crisis turns to war, Clary said.
The asymmetry between India and Pakistan in nuclear weapons and military strength is striking, Clary said. New Delhi having 2 ½ times what Pakistan possesses in its arsenal He added, “China has three times more than India” in its nuclear arsenal, “maybe five to six times” more.
India has accelerated its domestic naval shipbuilding in recent years.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned two surface warships and a diesel-electric submarine, designed for a range of missions from anti-submarine warfare to special operations.
Naval News reported Modi said at the commissioning “it is for the first time that the tri-commissioning of a destroyer, frigate and submarine was being done.” He mentioned the inclusion of 33 ships and seven submarines in the Navy over the past decade, with 39 out of 40 naval vessels being built in Indian shipyards.
