NEW DELHI: The Indian Navy’s Chief of Staff on Wednesday described the situation in the region as ‘contested’ which has made things challenging. “We are in a contested present and looking at an uncertain future,” said Admiral R Hari Kumar.
The Chief of Naval Staff (CNS) was speaking at the Raisina Dialogue, which is a conference on geopolitics and geoeconomics. “It is impossible for any one country to ensure maritime security. Therefore, there is a need for co-operation, collaboration, interaction and interoperability so that collectively we can ensure peace for the benefit of our region.”
He added that to enhance maritime security, countries must respond. “It helps in developing trust, information exchange, good practices and domain awareness.” Speaking at the conference, Admiral John C Aquilino, Commander of the US Pacific Command, mentioned the Russia-Ukraine conflict and added that Chinese comments have amplified concerns.
“We are all concerned with what we watched in Ukraine. We watched unprovoked action to generate a war. This is a very concerning time from the lens of global security. It’s amplified by the comments by the People’s Republic of China with regard to no limits between those two nations. That gives me great concern.”
Speaking on the war, Admiral Hari Kumar said Ukraine was doing better at the tactical level. “Superiority of weapons will always be there. We need to find ways and means of exploiting them to the best effect possible. That is what Ukraine is doing,” he said.
Later, Admiral Hari Kumar met Admiral Aquilino. Indian Navy in a statement said, “Defence cooperation has been a critical element of Indo-US relations. Towards ensuring free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific, both the Admirals discussed avenues to further enhance the existing cooperation between two Navies through capability enhancement and co-operative engagements.”
Talking about Indo-Pacific, Admiral Aquilino said that the US along with its allies and partners is working for a conflict free Indo-Pacific region.