Indian Navy’s Dream Turned Nightmare – OpEd
April 23, 2014 Yasir Hussain 5 Comments
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Yasir Hussain
“Who rules the seas, rules the world,” wrote Admiral Mahan in his book The Influence of Sea Power upon History. No doubt; sea power has been the ultimate measure of global reach and influence. Sometimes, punching above the weight creates challenges that can have devastating effects. Indian Navy is an example. Indian Navy is beset with embarrassing accidents that ultimately led to the naval chief’s resignation last month.
Fourteen major accidents involving submarines and warships in just 10 months could possibly paralyze Indian naval capabilities. The ambitions of becoming a strategic blue-water power, India is expending its naval crew with Russian assistance. But that seems impossible given the submarines and warships have completed 75% operational lives.
Recently, on Sunday April 6th, the 68-metre long Indian Navy vessel INS Matanga caught fire at the naval dockyard in Mumbai. The fire broke out during welding of the tug. Though, no casualties were reported, the accident sparked enormous criticism regarding the naval capabilities. It seems that the seamen are busy navel watching instead of watching the navy.
On Friday, March 7, an officer died and two shipyard workers were severely injured due to a gas leak on Indian Navy’s newest stealth destroyer. The mishap took place when one of the valves on the carbon dioxide bottles malfunctioned leading to leakage of gas.
February 26th was another disastrous day for Indian Navy when smoke triggered the automatic closure of hatches from the Russian-origin Kilo class submarine, INS –Sindhuratna with 68 personnel on board. This resulted in the death of two officers and injuries to seven sailors. This was the tenth mishap involving an Indian Navy warship and the third submarine accident in the last seven months.
The disappointed Navy Chief D.K. Joshi resigned taking “moral responsibility” for several accidents occurred in Indian Navy. One wonders what moral ground did the Defense Minister – Mr Antony – had not to resign. Instead he readily accepted his subordinate’s resignation. Once the civilian leadership takes pride in having a firm grip over the military, it must then dance and swim together and take the onus of failures too.
On a fateful day last August, fifteen sailors and three officers were killed when INS Sindhurakshak caught fire, exploded and sunk shortly afterwards in Mumbai harbor – it still rests there in peace. It is pertinent to note that Sindhurakshak was bought in 1997 for $113 million and it was later refitted for $156 million. All that spending on Russian diesel submarine has been sunk.
In September 2013, INS-Virat caught fire due to malfunctioning air conditioning system. INS-Virat has also undergone modernization process. Likewise, in December 2013, during the celebrations on Navy day, fire broke out on INS-Konkan. As a result five persons suffered injuries. Same month, INS-Talwar collided with fishing trawler near Ratnagiri coast in Maharashtra, injuring four of the 27 persons on board. The fishing trawler sunk after the collision.
Unfortunately, the series of accidents and mishaps continue in 2014. On January 2014, 126m long INS-Betwa, a guided missile frigate collided with unknown object while reaching to Mumbai Naval Base. As a result the sonar system of the frigate cracked leading the entry of saltwater into the most sensitive parts.
During the same month, another accident occurred when INS-Vipal, A member of the elite 22nd Killer Missile Vessel Squadron of the navy, detected with a hole in its pillar compartment.
Irrespective of such disastrous failures, India remains the biggest buyer of arms in the world, importing nearly three times as many weapons as China and Pakistan. According to a Swedish think tank, the main supplier of arms to India in 2009-13 was Russia, accounting for 75 percent of all imports. The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) further adds that volume of Indian imports of major weapons rose by 111% between 2004-08 and 2009-13.
Indian military’s expansionist mode has compelled other regional states to enhance their defense expenditures. In response to Indian Naval developments, Bangladesh has negotiated with China purchase of a submarine.
Indian dream to dominate Indian Ocean rests not on its not lame warships and submarine capabilities but rather on its poor leadership, bad training and wanting safety practices. They have to measure up to their ambition – but once they do, they shall invite unwelcome adversaries. Mahan was clarion in his prophetic phrase – an effort to rule the seas bespeaks military ambition and is tantamount to revising the global order. That shall not go unnoticed.
Most importantly, India has to think about Chinese Defense Minister Chi Haotian’s statement of 1994, where he stated, “the Indian Ocean is not India’s ocean…” It is merely named on the geographical, not political basis. It suggests that Beijing is aware of Indian activities in waters and it also possess far better navy with latest naval technology. Time shall prove that even those who have franchised their containment efforts in the Indian Ocean would not let Indian Navy grow up to threaten their larger interests. Therefore, any misadventures by India in Indian Ocean may create further troubles for its own navy
Indian Navy’s Dream Turned Nightmare - OpEd | Eurasia Review
It appears the Indian navy is a sitting duck!
!!Go save that country of yours first for it will be underwater within a couple of decades
