Three armadas, three strategies

• Source: The Global Times
• [02:03 April 24 2009]
• Comments

 Wary of rivals

By Cong Mu 

India: INS Viraat, aircraft carrier

The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The branch has approximately 55,000 personnel on active duty, including 5,000 members of the naval-aviation branch and 2,000 marine commandos, making it the world’s fifth-largest navy, according to data available on www. globalsecurity.org.

The website states that, last year, the navy had no nuclear submarines, 16 conventional submarines, one aircraft carrier, eight destroyers, 13 frigates, eight corvettes, nine seaward defense forces and 19 amphibious ships, among other naval vessels.

By 2020, the navy is expected to possess seven nuclear submarines, 24 conventional submarines, three aircraft carriers, 10 destroyers, 24 frigates, 20 corvettes, 19 seaward defense forces and 35 amphibious ships.

Wary of PLA Navy

Indian Express reported Tuesday that the navy has conveyed to its Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) China’s request to be inducted into the 33-member Indian Ocean Naval Symposium (IONS), hoping to secure a naval attache post in Beijing as an exchange. But the MEA “promptly rebuffed the move,” fearing that “China’s long-term ambition is to counter Indian influence in the Indian Ocean.”

The paper went on to say, “While explaining this, sources said, the idea to step up interaction between the navies should not be stretched to give Beijing access to the IONS, as (Beijing) does not even meet the basic criteria for any sort of association. It is important to note here that China had rushed ships to Somalia after the Indian Navy moved its ships into the area for anti-piracy patrols.”

And in February, the Indian media reportedly confirmed that the navy had “spooked”’ the Chinese warships “several times” during their transit from the Malacca Strait to the Somali waters, in order to obtain military intelligence for future use.

“Indian submarines, maritime reconnaissance aircraft and warships closely tracked, ‘buzzed’ and photographed two Chinese destroyers and a supply ship making their way to the Gulf of Aden off Somalia recently for anti-piracy patrols,” The Times of India reported February 5.

“Though India and China have stepped up ‘constructive military engagement’ in recent years, which led to their first-ever joint exercise in India last December, New Delhi remains suspicious of Beijing's long-term military objectives,” the Times said.

Zhao Gancheng, director of South Asia Studies at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told the Global Times Wednesday that the Indian Ocean is a high sea, and the Chinese Navy doesn’t have to ask for Indian permission to navigate the ocean.

“China and India are both big countries, and they both have undeniable responsibilities to protect international water channels. From this perspective, China’s request to safeguard the international water channels needs to be better understood,” Zhao said.

India’s aircraft-carrier dream

India laid the keel for its first Indigenous Aircraft Carrier (IAC) on February 28, becoming the fourth nation in the world capable of building such vessels, along with the US, Russia and France, according to the Beijing Evening News.

Indian Navy Chief Admiral Sureesh Mehta previously said that India plans to form an aircraft combat group comprising three such aircraft carriers by 2015.

Its only carrier in service now was bought from the UK in 1986 and is expected to be retired next year. India had planned to import a revamped carrier from Russia, but the delivery was delayed until 2011 due to a cost disputes. The total cost for a revamped ship has risen to around $3 billion – about the cost of building a new one, analysts say.

Wednesday, military expert Li Yaqiang told China Radio International Online that India has expanded significant effort developing its own ships and vessels.

But he said that the Indian Navy’s comprehensive capability is not very strong, as its development involves too many groups and industries, and one shortfall can have a far-reaching impact.

An example of that was seen in the construction of a frigate, which was subcontracted to nearly 150 international developers. This prompted the Beijing-based International Herald Leader newspaper in March of last year to joke that the frigate was “made by 10,000 countries.”

Rear Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong told CCTV in late 2007 that he expected the India aircraft carrier group to achieve basic combat capabilities by 2020 at the earliest.