Combat ready is Navy chief’s battle plan

Recently-appointed Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Karambir Singh said that the aim during his tenure is to make the Indian Navy focus on combat readiness. “Under my leadership, I want the Indian naval force to be a credible force in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and become a lot more cohesive as an organisation,” said Admiral Singh.

The navy chief was in the city to deliver the annual General BC Joshi memorial lecture on ‘Indian Ocean Region- Changing Dynamics - Maritime Security Imperatives for India’ which was organised by the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies, Savitribai Phule Pune University at Dhanvantri Auditorium of Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC), Pune, on Monday.

Admiral Singh said that the Indian Navy is keeping pace with the rapid changes in the strategic environment in the IOR and is ready to stride into harm’s way to protect the maritime interests of the nation.

During the lecture, the Admiral highlighted the issues concerning maritime global and regional security from India’s point of view and touched upon various topics like the significance of IOR, challenges in maritime security in the region and role of the Indian Navy in the emerging strategic environment.

Apart from the traditional challenges of maritime security like India’s restive western front and Chinese presence in the IOR, among others, the CNS said that human and drug trafficking as well as large scale illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing and poaching leading to adverse economic and ecological consequences for the littorals (nations in the IOR) have also raised alarms in several parts of the world and have kept maritime forces constantly engaged. “These form some non-traditional challenges in the IOR region. These challenges are hybrid, transnational and non-state in character,” said Admiral Singh.

Apart from these challenges, terrorism continues to acquire new dimensions by the day, said the Indian naval chief. To counter these, the chief said that the government has devised a comprehensive strategy which includes the ‘whole-of-government’ approach to ensure safety and security. “Some of the initiatives include- Sagar (Security and Growth for All in the Region); rule-based approach of the Indian government towards a free, open and inclusive region and providing regional solutions to regional problems which includes capacity building of our partner nations. There are also some non-traditional, consultative and collaborative mechanisms like the Act East policy and Bimstec (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation),” he added.

Speaking on the challenges, the naval chief said that there is a need for technology absorption in the maritime sector, building maritime consciousness among the larger polity and a central body for maritime policies. “Maritime security involves a large number of stakeholders- navy, coast guard, director general of shipping, fisheries, central ministries among other- so coordinating and synergising the efforts of all these stakeholders is a huge task and having a national maritime commission will help coordinate all policies in the maritime domain. This is under consideration,” he added.

At the end of the lecture, Admiral Singh opined that in the present scenario, we need to correctly identify and define our maritime security concerns that impact our national interest and aspirations. He was felicitated by Nitin Karmalkar, vice-chancellor of the Savitribai Phule Pune University and welcome address was given by professor Vijay Khare, Head of the Department of Defence and Strategic Studies. The lecture was also attended by Lieutenant General SK Saini, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Southern Command, pro vice-chancellor NS Umrani, SPPU and other serving Army, Navy and Air Force officers, veterans and students of Defence and Strategic Studies, Pune.

In 1995, Headquarters Southern Command and the University of Pune jointly instituted an annual lecture series to honour the memory of General BC Joshi, in recognition of his contribution to higher education and furthering University-Armed Forces interaction programme.

Source Link: http://www.defencenews.in/article/Combat-ready-is-Navy-chief%e2%80%99s-battle-plan-586757

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