Comparative Review of Pakistani and Indian Navy: Why is the Indian Naval Chief concerned about the ‘growing capabilities’ of the Pakistani Navy?
How does the Indian Navy compare to its Pakistani counterpart?
Shakeel Akhtar and Rohan Ahmed
Ahadah, BBC Urdu, New Delhi and Islamabad
Pros and Cons of Each Navy
Pakistani Navy:
Pros:
1. Growing Submarine Fleet: Pakistan is expanding its submarine capabilities, including advanced AIP (Air Independent Propulsion) submarines from China.
2. Strategic Partnerships: Strong military and technological collaborations with China and Turkey enhance its naval modernization.
3. Focus on Regional Deterrence: Pakistan's navy is tailored for its geographical advantage in the Arabian Sea, with emphasis on asymmetric warfare (e.g., submarines and missiles).
Cons:
1. Limited Fleet Size: Compared to India, the overall size and variety of the Pakistani Navy are smaller.
2. Budget Constraints: Lower defense budgets restrict the pace of modernization.
3. Technological Gaps: Dependence on foreign suppliers and limited indigenous development capabilities.
Indian Navy:
Pros:
1. Larger Fleet: India boasts a robust and diversified fleet, including aircraft carriers, destroyers, and nuclear-powered submarines.
2. Indigenous Development: Strong focus on self-reliance with projects like INS Vikrant (aircraft carrier) and Arihant-class submarines.
3. Blue-Water Capability: Ability to project power beyond the Indian Ocean Region (IOR), supported by overseas naval bases and partnerships.
Cons:
1. Aging Equipment: A portion of the fleet still relies on older vessels requiring upgrades or replacement.
2. Concerns Over Operational Readiness: Challenges in maintaining and operating a large fleet, leading to occasional delays.
3. Geopolitical Distractions: A broad focus on countering China in the IOR could dilute resources allocated for regional threats like Pakistan.
Pakistan and India are two neighboring countries in South Asia that have fought three regular major wars in the past and have also come close to a fourth.
This tension in relations has been going on for the past 77 years, due to which the military leaderships of both countries are trying to outdo each other and also keep an eye on each other's military strength.
One such moment came earlier this month when the Indian Navy Chief, Admiral Dinesh Tripathi, expressed his concern over the growing power of the Pakistani Navy and its collaboration with China.
Speaking at a ceremony, the Indian Navy Chief said that India is fully aware of the "astonishing development" of the Pakistani Navy, which is trying to increase the capacity of its current fleet to 50 ships in the coming years.
Admiral Tripathi further said, “We are fully aware of their (Pakistan’s) growing capabilities, which is why we are changing our strategy and operational plan to eliminate any possible negative impact on our interests. We are fully prepared to face any challenge.”
He also said that China is currently helping the Pakistani Navy build ships and submarines.
It should be noted that China’s naval power has increased rapidly in recent years and it is now said that its fleet now has more ships than the United States and it has permanently deployed several research and reconnaissance ships in the Indian Ocean.
This statement by the Indian Navy chief comes at a time when India and Pakistan have been busy expanding their navies for several years. According to defense experts, the navy has become more important in war strategy in the changing security landscape of the world in recent years.
What capabilities does the Indian Navy have?
The BBC has obtained details of the warships, submarines and aircraft in the navies of both countries from military sources in Pakistan and India.
According to the Indian Navy, they currently have 150 small and large ships, while they also have two aircraft carriers, in addition to which India also has 16 conventional and two nuclear-powered submarines.
According to the Indian Navy, they also have 275 aircraft, helicopters and drones, while 50 ships and submarines are in various stages of construction.
India has recently built its own aircraft carrier, INS Viraat, while the government has approved another aircraft carrier, which will take several years to build. At present, the Indian Navy has the Russian-built aircraft carrier INS Vikram Aditya and its own ship INS Viraat in operation.
India has built two nuclear submarines in the country with the help of Russia in recent years, while two more will be operational in the coming years.
Defence analyst Rahul Bedi says the Indian Navy has been very quietly focused on expanding itself in the last 30-40 years. “It was the first navy in the region to add an aircraft carrier to its fleet. In 1964, the Indian Navy bought an old aircraft carrier called HM Hercules from Britain, which was renamed ‘INS Vikrant’.”
Indian Navy’s new warship ‘INS Mormugao’ equipped with modern sensors
However, according to Bedi, most of India’s submarines are very old. ‘Half of its 16 conventional submarines are not fit for combat use, but now the Navy is focusing on acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.’
There are three types of navies: a ‘brown water’ navy, which operates inland areas and around rivers, etc. ‘green water navy’ is for patrolling coastal areas, which usually operates within a radius of 12 to 16 nautical miles and mainly protects its coasts and maritime borders.
‘blue water navy’ patrols and asserts its rights thousands of miles beyond its maritime borders. According to Rahul Bedi, the Indian Navy now falls into the category of blue water navy.
Rahul Bedi says that India's naval capability is greater than Pakistan's, but its responsibility for protecting maritime borders and territories is five times greater than Pakistan's.
What is Pakistan's naval strength?
The Chinese-built warship ‘Tughral’ was inducted into the Pakistani Navy in November 2021.
According to military sources in Pakistan, the navy has 45 ships of various types, including six oil tankers.
He told the BBC that the Pakistani Navy has five submarines, while eight submarines and several warships are still under construction.
According to him, the Pakistani Navy also has three squadrons of fixed-wing ships, three of rotary-wing ships and a squadron of drones.
It should be noted that a squadron consists of several aircraft and the BBC does not have information about the number of these aircraft.
Pakistan’s coastline is 1,200 to 1,300 kilometers long.
However, defense analysts from both countries say that it is not appropriate to compare the naval forces of the two countries on the basis of the military equipment they have because according to the ground realities, the purpose of each country’s navy is different.
Rear Admiral (retd) Faisal Shah told the BBC that “the mission of the Pakistan Navy is essentially defensive in nature, which is to protect our maritime borders. Since more than 90 percent of our trade is carried out through the sea, we have to protect it in both peace and war times. We arrange whatever things are needed for this.”
Pakistan Navy’s ‘growing capabilities’ and India’s concern over China’s role
India's aircraft carrier 'Vikrant', which has taken 17 years to prepare
Defense experts from Pakistan are of the opinion that Pakistan's Navy has developed very rapidly in recent years and the Pakistani leadership is well aware of India's interest in this (development).
Pakistan's Navy conducts exercises every two years so that it can prepare for complex operations in the event of any war. In February this year, similar exercises were held in the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan, which were named 'Sea Spark 2024'.
During these exercises, the Pakistani military's public relations department, ISPR, said in a statement that 'during operations at sea, Pakistani naval warships and aircraft also detected the presence of Indian naval ships, submarines and aircraft and were trying to secretly observe the Pakistan Navy's war exercises.'
In the past few years, the Pakistan Navy has added several new ships to its fleet and several new ships and submarines are still in the process of completion.
Last year, the Pakistan Navy added the Turkish-built warship PNS Babar and the Romanian-built warship 'PNS Hanin' to its fleet.
Thus, the agreement between Pakistan and China to build four naval warships was signed in 2018 and this agreement was completed last year when China handed over two Type 054A warships to Pakistan. Earlier, China had also handed over two such ships to Pakistan.
Pakistan Navy warship ‘PNS Taimur’
According to a report by the news agency Reuters, ‘Pakistan has also ordered eight Hangor-class submarines from China and it is expected that all these submarines will be inducted into the Pakistani Navy fleet by 2028.’
Vice Admiral (retd) Ahmed Tasneem is a former commander of the Pakistani Navy who was the commander of the Pakistani submarine PNS Hangor in 1971 and under his leadership, Pakistan destroyed the Indian ship INS Khakri.
He says that the Pakistan Navy has developed at a rapid pace in the last 15 years and he believes the reason for all this is the leadership of the Navy.
While talking to BBC Urdu, he said that decision-makers in Pakistan understood the importance of the sea late and ‘when governments stopped ignoring it’, the pace of development of the Pakistani Navy accelerated.
Praising the leadership of the Pakistan Navy, he said, “We have quietly obtained funds, acquired new platforms, purchased good weapons and sensors.”
Vice Admiral (retd) Ahmed Tasneem says that the Pakistan Navy’s policy of transferring technology with other countries has proven to be very successful.
He said that recently ships built in Turkey and Romania have also been inducted into the Pakistan Navy and in the near future, the Pakistan Navy will have up to 50 warships.
He said that Pakistan and China are currently jointly building four submarines, “four of which are being built in China and four in the Karachi shipyard.”
According to him, the Pakistan Navy is also working on building other warships, some of whose components are being built in Pakistan and some in other countries.
On the other hand, Indian defense analyst Rahul Bedi claims that ‘Pakistan has increased its ship, missile and submarine manufacturing capacity through China. The most important thing is that China has given Pakistan two missiles called Area Denial, which have a range of 200 to 400 kilometers and can easily target aircraft carriers.’
According to him, ‘China is very interested in increasing Pakistan’s naval capability and the reason for this is that the Chinese navy works more in the Indian Ocean and if Pakistan takes over the Arabian Sea front, China will not need to pay attention to it.’
He said that ‘India does not have submarines of the capacity that Pakistan has conventional submarines.’
On the other hand, former Pakistani Navy officer Rear Admiral Faisal Shah says that the ongoing competition between the US and China is also having an impact on this region and India benefits from it.
He says that the US has developed an ‘Indo-Pacific Strategy’ to reduce China’s growing influence.
‘The US says that this is a multilateral policy, but in fact it is a strategy to form alliances with like-minded countries.’
Rear Admiral Faisal Shah says that in this regard, the US has formed a quad-like alliance that includes the US, India, Japan and Australia.
‘They have included India in this and are cooperating in terms of economy, military and technology. The benefits that India gets in all these areas are not good for us because they are our opponents.’
Do the objectives of the Pakistani and Indian navies differ?
Parveen Sahni, editor of the defence journal Force, told BBC Urdu that Pakistan followed a policy of ‘Sea Denial’ instead of ‘Sea Control’ and the reason for this was that they had a small budget.
He says that submarines play a huge role in the ‘Sea Denial’ policy because they can attack their target while staying underwater.
According to him, the mini-submarines available in Pakistan can go up to a depth of 100 meters and they operate near the boundaries of the maritime borders, meaning if an enemy ship comes close to their maritime borders, they can attack it.
Parveen Sahni also agrees that Pakistan’s navy has become powerful today and says, “I would not be surprised if, with the help of China, Pakistan is also building some underwater drones that it can include in its navy.”
Shedding light on India’s concerns about the Pakistani navy, Parveen Sahni says, “Most of India’s oil comes through the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea and trade takes place with Europe. China has a naval base in Djibouti, while Pakistan’s navy is active in the maritime region of Karachi, Gwadar and Makran.” The power of Pakistan and China in this region has increased a lot.
He further said that ‘India has increased its responsibility in the sea beyond its current capabilities.
According to him, ‘The maritime areas that Pakistan is protecting are much smaller in terms of area compared to India, which means that Pakistan has less responsibility and it only has to keep an eye on the Arabian Sea and fight there. ’
On the other hand, according to Parveen Sahni, the Indian Navy has expanded its scope from the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean.
‘The Indian Army or Navy does not have the power to go far and protect its interests. India has theoretically expanded its reach to that of a global power, but it does not have the capacity to protect its interests to that extent.
Rear Admiral (retd) Faisal Shah says that the Indian Navy has invested a lot in itself in the last two decades and wants to play the role of a ‘police officer in this region.’
‘Currently, they do not have the capacity to label themselves as a net security provider, meaning that you have an eye on everything that is happening in the region and you should have the capabilities and resources to deal with all this. They do not have this capacity at the moment, but this is their goal and if not today, then tomorrow they will try to achieve it.’
On the other hand, referring to the three powers of the region, India, China and Pakistan, Parveen Sahni says that ‘As far as military power is concerned, there is a world of difference between India and China. As far as the comparison between India and Pakistan is concerned, today Pakistan's Navy and Air Force have become very powerful with the help of China.
Rear Admiral (retd) Faisal Shah says that the aim of all three forces of Pakistan, including the Navy, is to defend its territory and they also have offensive capabilities.
'But we have no aggressive ambitions that we have to go into any area or occupy somewhere. But we are a strong force and can defend every inch of our land.'
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