Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi commissioned three ships — a stealth frigate INS (Indian Naval Ship) Nilgiri, a stealth destroyer INS Surat and a submarine INS Vaghsheer — on the same day into the Indian Navy, signaling India’s mounting maritime ambitions.
His speech on the occasion was striking for its multiple messages. It spotlighted the vessels’ manufacture in India and showcased India’s capacity to manufacture complex and sophisticated weapons systems.
As a person familiar with the matter in New Delhi observed, the commissioning of the three vessels underlined the “transition of the Indian Navy from a buyer to a builder.”
“It advertises India as a country that has capabilities to build ships and submarines with almost 70 percent to 75 percent indigenous content,” he said.
So far, India has largely been a country that bought arms – becoming one of the world’s top importers.
In his speech at the vessels’ commissioning, Modi drew attention to India’s prioritization of cooperation. In a comment ostensibly directed at China, he said that India’s commissioning of the naval vessels was consistent with its goal of working with countries “in the spirit of development, not expansionism. India has always supported an open, secure, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.” This underlines India’s benign, cooperative role vis-à-vis China’s aggressive posturing in the South China Sea.
“We believe in the principle of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas (everyone together for everyone’s prosperity). And therefore, India considers the defense and security of this entire region as its responsibility,” Modi said in his speech last week.
It was in 2004 that the global perception of India and the Indian Navy started to change in the aftermath of the Indian Ocean Tsunami. “That was a turning point for India and the Indian Navy. Within hours we were in Indonesia even as we were tending to the disaster at home,” said the person cited above.
The three vessels were commissioned at Mumbai, the headquarters of the Western Naval Command, the sword arm of the Indian Navy. It comes at a time of global flux and amid China’s determined efforts to build the muscle of its People Liberation Army Navy (PLAN). According to the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), China now possesses the world’s largest maritime fighting force, operating 234 warships to the U.S. Navy’s 219. India in contrast is aiming to become a 175 warship Navy by 2035.
The PLAN is also making rapid inroads into the Indian Ocean, seen as India’s zone of influence. It has increased its military and diplomatic presence in the littoral states. It set up its first overseas base in Djibouti situated in the Horn of Africa in 2017. Djibouti, along with Yemen and Eritrea are strategically situated along the Straits of Bab-el-Mandeb that connects the Red Sea to the Indian Ocean. India has deployed its warships in the Gulf of Aden given the surge of piracy incidents in the area.
China-built ports — from Gwadar in Pakistan to Hambantota in Sri Lanka — now dot the Indian Ocean. Its research vessels make regular port calls in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, much to India’s unease. India suspects these ships are used to study the ocean beds for minerals and possible channels for submarine operation. Against this backdrop, a stronger Indian naval presence in the Indian Ocean region is necessary for India in both the tactical and strategic sense.
Meanwhile, tensions are simmering due to conflicting maritime claims between China and its neighbors in the South China Sea and in East Asia. Last year, the PLAN operated all three of its aircraft carriers for the first time. There were also some reports of China starting work on a fourth carrier. The South China Sea and Malacca Straits through which over 55 percent of India’s trade passes is important to India. With so much at stake, Indian naval ships have made their presence felt with frequent port calls in Southeast Asia.
The commissioning of the three Indian vessels comes at a time when India’s Security and Growth for All in the Region doctrine (SAGAR) turns 10. It was during his visit to Mauritius that Modi articulated the SAGAR doctrine, which envisages increased security and cooperation among Indian Ocean countries. The aim is for all countries in the region to be stakeholders in preserving peace and prosperity and working together in times of strife.
“We believe in an open, secure, inclusive Indian Ocean region (IOR),” Modi said at the Mumbai commissioning event, stressing that this underlies the “the vision of SAGAR”
In addition to sending food, medicines and other kinds of aid to support IOR countries in times of crisis, India has also emerged as the region’s first responder to disasters. During the 2022 economic crisis in Sri Lanka, India moved quickly to extend over $4 billion to Colombo to rescue its economy. This gesture helped shore up India’s image in Sri Lanka, where Chinese influence has been on the rise.
“We believe in the principle of Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas (everyone together for everyone’s prosperity). And therefore, India considers the defense and security of this entire region as its responsibility,” Modi said in his speech last week.
The strengthening of the Indian Navy with the commissioning of the new assets comes amid a change of guard in the U.S.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that American allies and friends should not depend entirely on the U.S. to guarantee their security and must allocate more of their own resources to keeping themselves safe.
In this context, India’s strengthening of its Navy is likely to be viewed with relief by at least some countries in the Indian Ocean region where many are forming alliances and new groupings against the backdrop of an aggressively rising China and an inward-looking U.S
Given Trump’s unpredictability and penchant for being transactional, India would do well to focus on some of its obvious challenges. First, it needs to greenlight the construction of a third aircraft carrier given that it would take India about a decade to build and commission the vessel. Second, India must step up efforts to become self-sufficient in engine technology for its ships, submarines and fighter aircraft. This is essential if it wants to transition from an arms buyer to a defense exporter of repute.