War can’t be ruled out, working hard to deter such a possibility: Navy chief

A war with potential adversaries can never be ruled out, Indian Navy chief Admiral R Hari Kumar said on Monday, while competition at sea is played out daily without escalating into armed action. Admiral R Hari Kumar was speaking about the challenges posed to India in the maritime domain at an event. There is a vital need to remain poised and prepared for such an eventuality, he stressed, “while working hard to deter such a possibility”.

Highlighting that the Navy closely monitors trends and patterns of threats and challenges from traditional as well as non-traditional sources, he said non-traditional security threats – such as maritime terrorism, piracy, robbery, human, arms, drugs trafficking – have added a fresh paradigm to the security scenario in the recent years.

“Navigating through these challenges is our primary concern right now, and will remain for the foreseeable future,” he said.

Talking about external issues impacting India’s interest in the maritime domain, he stressed: “Indo-Pacific as a geo-strategic reality is also accompanied by a return of great power competition. The US-China rivalry is here to stay – and it is not a short sprint but a long marathon that they are engaged in. This has inevitably led to a naval arms race between the West and China, like the pre-World War I era between the allied and central powers, as part of which China has inducted 148 warships over the last 10 years — the size of the entire Indian Navy.”