Influence and Leverage of Indian Seapower: From Kargil to Future Readiness

Using the Kargil conflict as a backdrop, the article explains why the leverage and influence of sea power matters. During Kargil, situated in a small area of Jammu and Kashmir, and far away from the sea, the robust deployment of the Indian Navy created politico-diplomatic pressure that contributed indirectly to the outcome. Two decades hence, the navy’s multiple strategies as doctrinally enunciated, when complemented by the broader initiatives of SAGAR and SAGARMALA, assist in India becoming a pivot for economic progress and for mutual security in the Indian Ocean Region. Going forward, the Indian Ocean will become the arena for competitive economic and security agendas of regional and extra-regional powers. This requires thinking of sea control and sea denial using available instruments imaginatively and adaptively; investing in places and bases; and create the conditions for future-readiness of a self-reliant navy that harnesses jointness effectively.

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