Jaishankar’s visit is a timely reminder that India’s partnership stands on its own, and Indian interests demand more rather than less engagement with Tehran.
The Indian Navy can be expected to continue to use its significant deterrent and punitive capabilities to protect the sea lanes of communications in the Western Indian Ocean.
Abhay Kumar Singh replies: In late October 2022, the Ukrainian Navy brazenly struck Russia’s Black Sea Fleet headquarters in Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula. Despite minimal damage to Russian assets, the attack has attracted the attention of naval strategists worldwide, since it employed a major technological innovation.
The ADMM-Plus offers India and ASEAN opportunities to develop practical collaboration on security issues ranging from terrorism, maritime threats and other non-traditional threats.
The impending removal of the piracy High Risk Area off the coast of Somalia presents an ideal opportunity for India, in partnership with the wider Indo-Pacific maritime community, to delegitimise China’s naval presence and strengthen regional mechanisms for ensuring maritime security.
R. Vignesh replies: Aircraft carriers are complex naval platforms that act as floating military airbases through which tactical airpower can be projected on distant shores. Ever since these ships emerged in the 1920s, they swiftly replaced the battleship as flagships of a nation’s naval might. These platforms can critically augment a navy’s tactical combat potential and strategic power projection capabilities. Due to this aircraft carriers are much sought by nations that can afford to procure and operate them.
Russia’s new maritime doctrine, the first policy document in Russia’s national security domain since the Ukraine conflict, reveals a bolder and more assertive Russia, and presents several opportunities for cooperation with India.
The India-Russia partnership is longstanding and time-tested, one of steadiest of the major relationships in the world. Although the relations between the two countries have remained exceptionally warm and cordial, their full potential has not been realised.
EAM Jaishankar in Tehran: Renewed Focus on Maritime Security and Regional Connectivity
Jaishankar’s visit is a timely reminder that India’s partnership stands on its own, and Indian interests demand more rather than less engagement with Tehran.