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| Navy chief Admiral D K Joshi |
NEW DELHI: Indian warships are prepared to set sail for the South China Sea if the country's economic interests there are threatened in any way, with China upping the ante and even empowering its police to search and seize foreign ships in the contentious mineral-rich region.
"Are we preparing for it? Are we having exercises of that nature? The short answer is 'Yes'. We, of course, will need government clearance. Should a requirement come, I am sure we will have that clearance," said Navy chief Admiral D K Joshi on Monday, a day ahead of the Navy Day.
Speaking at a time when national security advisor Shiv Shankar Menon is in Beijing to engage with the new Chinese leadership, Admiral Joshi made it clear that his force's mandate was "unambiguous" - to be the "net security provider" wherever the country's "sovereign interests" may lie in maritime domain.
India may not be "a direct party or stakeholder" in the "complex" dispute in South China Sea, where Beijing has become quite aggressive in its territorial disputes with countries like the Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam and Malaysia, but it does have "two primary concerns" there.
One, there should be unhindered and "uninterrupted" freedom of navigation for all countries in the South China Sea in accordance with international laws. "Two, we have economic interests there. ONGC Videsh has three oil exploration blocks (off the Vietnam coast)...production in one has already begun. Should there be any requirement for any kind of protection, we are prepared," said Admiral Joshi, who recently returned from a visit to Vietnam.
India and China have had diplomatic spats over ONGC's energy exploration off Vietnamese coast in the recent past, with Indian warships even being challenged and needled by the Chinese Navy there.
What if Indian ships are now stopped, boarded and searched by Chinese warships? The Navy chief said he did not expect such a situation to arise. But if it does, the " rules of engagement" would remain the same as elsewhere. "In essence, wherever your right of self-defence is impeded, then certain options are available," he said.
India is keeping a hawk eye on China's rapid military modernization. The Chinese Navy is spreading its wings with the recent commissioning of its first aircraft carrier, the 65,000-tonne Liaoning, the new JIN-class nuclear-powered submarines armed with the 7,400-km range JL-2 ballistic missiles, and the DF-21D missiles meant to target aircraft carriers and other big warships.
"Yes, the modernization is truly impressive. It's a major, major concern for us...but we continuously evaluate and factor it into our plans and strategies," said Admiral Joshi, adding his force has its own plans underway to become a true multi-dimensional force with reach and sustainability.
"We have 44 warships and submarines on order, 42 of them in Indian shipyards. Over the next five years, we expect to induct five to six warships/submarines per year," he added. The Navy has based most of its new warships, including the nuclear-propelled submarine INS Chakra and the three Shivalik-class stealth frigates, in the Eastern Naval Command at Vizag with China firmly on the radar screen.
But the huge delays in the induction of two aircraft carriers - the 40,000-tonne indigenous aircraft carrier (IAC) now by 2017 and the 44,570-tonne INS Vikramaditya (the refitted Admiral Gorshkov from Russia at a cost of $2.33 billion) by late-2013 - remain a source of worry for the Indian Navy.
Source : TOI
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