The talk was organised by the Indian Maritime Foundation to mark the National Maritime Day. The seven new ships which will be acquired by the Indian Navy include the INS Aditya, INS Bramhaputra, Fast Attack Craft, INS Sindhushastra, INS Kulish, INS Darshak and INS Mumbai. INS Sindhushastra, a missile firing submarine of Russian make will be commissioned this June, adding teeth towards making the Indian Navy a potent force, he said. In the next few years, the Indian Navy is reducing the strength of its warships from 140 to 110 and the focus is on greater offensive power and a multi-dimensional role. Admiral Sushil Kumar who dwelt on the role of the Navy in the afterglow of American President Bill Clinton's visit to India believes that the US wants peace and tranquility chiefly due to the economic interests.
Energy is the buzzword.
The policy of the Indian Navy is to avert a conflict and preventive deterrence, he said. The thrust, according to him, is towards raising the threshold of conventional deterrence much higher. On the maritime diplomacy front, the Indian Navy is already training 27 foreign Navies including Bangladesh, Singapore, Myanmar, Maldives and Mauritius. More importantly, the Navy is also following its doctrine of deterrence through active presence in the seas. He said the Navy is gearing up to contribute to joint operations with the other forces to effectively carry out operations at sea and support land operations with its potent submarines.