Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba on Friday dismissed Pakistani assertion that it had tracked down an Indian submarine in its waters near Karachi last month, calling it “totally bogus”. He also said India will continue to deploy submarines as per “operational necessity”. Addressing his annual media conference on the occasion of Navy Day, Admiral Lanba said the Navy is capable of handling any threat in the Indian Ocean region (IOR), which is its primary area of interest. “There was no submarine deployed in the area of Pakistani claims,” he said. “As far as repelling of submarine of any nation goes, it is not an easy task. The claim made by Pakistan navy was totally bogus.” On a question about the Lt General Campose committee’s guidelines issued by the Defence Ministry to the three defence services on Monday, as reported by The Indian Express, Lanba said that the committee had visited various naval bases and classified them as A, B and C, based on security threat. The Navy, however, was “not sleeping” in the interim and had taken up cases for beefing up the security of naval installations, by procuring electric fences, cameras and other infrastructural equipment, he said. On the efficacy of Defence Security Corps (DSC) in protecting military bases, Lanba said the main leader of the terror group at Pathankot airbase was tackled by the DSC. The current status of DSC is being examined to see if an alternative is needed, he said. The Navy chief said that they were aware of the Chinese Navy’s collaboration with Pakistan but there was a difference of opinion between the Chinese and Pakistanis about the use of Gwadar port. While a Pakistani Navy official has spoken about Gwadar being used as a Chinese naval base, the Chinese Navy has a different view, Lanba said. “We have the capability and the assets to take on any force deployed in the region. We have plans to tackle it,” he said. According to Lanba, the Navy has full maritime awareness of the Chinese forces in IOR. Starting with 2012, the sixth Chinese submarine deployment is currently on in the IOR. The Navy is also fully aware of Chinese submarine docking at Karachi naval port, Lanba said. Admiral Lanba said that maritime disputes in the South China Sea also need to be resolved in accordance with international law and UNCLOS.
