Will India's Navy Change The Balance Of Power In The Pacific?

India's Ocean -- Dhruva Jaishankar, Foreign Policy

Could New Delhi's growing naval force change the balance of power in the Pacific?

Is the Indian Navy about to start mixing it up with China on the high seas? For years, as the Chinese have modernized their naval fleet, Indian strategists have worried about what that might mean for India's political and economic interests. A recent book by C. Raja Mohan, one of India's most influential strategic thinkers, explores the prospect of Sino-Indian competition spilling from the Himalayas to the Indian and Pacific Oceans, risking a struggle for maritime influence in the region among the United States, China, and India.

So it was all the more interesting, when, at a press conference Monday, India's top admiral appeared to suggest that his navy would defend Indo-Vietnamese oil exploration efforts in the South China Sea against Chinese aggression. An Indian state-owned oil company, ONGC Videsh, has been involved in deepwater explorations with Vietnam in the South China Sea since 2006, despite Chinese claims of sovereignty over that area.

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My Comment: Like China's aircraft carrier, the Indian navy is just for show and for showing the flag at other ports. But unlike China where the Chinese are working hard to plan and develop a deep water navy .... India does not have the resources nor the political will to spend the money to do the same.