India needs seapower as Pakistani weakness reduces the conventional threat from the west and as the Himalayas limit the conventional threat from the north.
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India's land problem with Pakistan has been reduced as India's relative power increased over the army with a UN seat across its border. And while India borders China, the Himalayas are India's long walls that prevent decisive land defeats. So India goes to sea:
Both China and India, as rising powers, see the value of having a blue-water navy. India views dominance in the Indian Ocean as essential for projecting power and protecting critical trade routes. Additionally, it is very well aware of its neighbors’ naval build-up and sees fit to make its own plans for naval reform and expansion. In accordance with this principle, the Indian Navy has come to focus on three main areas: aircraft carriers/naval aviation, anti-submarine technology, and a transfer to domestically designed and produced weapon systems.
I believe India has the advantage on the land front from geography. So yes, China is the only real threat to India at sea.
Yet India has it's advantages to help keep China from using the Indian Ocean. With one exception.
But I must say, I have my doubts that India's corrupt and inefficient defense industry can achieve one of their main objectives of designing and producing major weapons systems.
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NOTE: Photo from the Indian navy.
