@PravinSawhney states ‘the term net security provider in IOR is a phrase that Indian Admirals have been unable to understand in quantifiable military terms’. @arunp2810 @subnut @JaggiBedi @nmfindia
My longish take on the term and wider facets from Nov 2016 at IMF Pune seminar on what such terms mean in crafting maritime strategy & force structuring documentcloud.adobe.com/link/track?uri…
In summary: I categorise IN as a Medium Power Navy of a modernising state (Geoffrey Till). Nations and her navies like ours have to debate approach to regional and global responsibilities. This can be a tall order and to fund it needs a serious debate between govts and navies..
If India has to be a Net Provider of Security in the IOR, then we need to get our act together and chart a maritime strategy beyond our shores such that our imperatives are focused on and protected. This requires a balanced Navy that naval professionals must articulate
We need to reach out to maritime neighbours, across the region and augment their capabilities and incapacities. Medium powers like India will need to do more - not less - to tackle challenges ‘across the spectrum of conflict’, to ‘orchestrate both hard and soft maritime power’.
Surface forces & air power at sea can be crucial ingredients to a balanced Navy even if many believe that submarine conquers all & all else is redundant... the f35b, Japan, S Korea crafting ships to take air power to sea can serve to remind.
Costs of SSNs & SSBNs can itself be tall order for medium navies and medium powers esp if incl make in india. India needs to figure what it can afford else collaborative cooperative appch as US seeks unavoidable. Else terms like strategic autonomy & NSP may need to be shelved...
Whither India and her growing political and eco status? Modern navies focus on exclusive defence of national interests and sovereignty in their territorial sea and EEZ. India must aspire for a post-modern status and here too Geoffrey Till serves as a good primer
‘Post-modern (PM) navies look at larger need for good order at sea such that effects of transnational crimes; piracy, people, drugs & arms smuggling, and internatl terrorism are managed as a necessity of protecting global sys, and even perhaps physical state of planet itself.’
‘ PM Navies seek maint of good order at sea & constabulary ops towards def of system as a whole than focus only on natl interests. PM nations look at such approaches as ‘crucial enabler for global peace & sec.’
This shud command India’s attention as a growing nation & as naval planners growing her capabilities at sea. Let us build on what national and leadership have built over this the last two decades and not get myopic in our continental inward focus.
