NEW DELHI – When it comes to undersea naval fleet, Indian Navy’s submarinestrength is way ahead of its neighbours Pakistan and Bangladesh, but palesin comparison to China. As per a report by Naval Analyses, India has 15conventional submarines (SSKs), two nuclear-powered submarines (SSBs) withnuclear-tipped ballistic missiles (SSBNs) and one nuclear-powered submarine(SSN) INS Chakra.
In terms of both quantity and technological advancement, China’s submarinefleet drastically outperforms India’s. The Dragon has a total of 78submarines, which include six advanced JIN-class SSBNs armed with missileswith a range of 7,200 km. Besides, China has 14 nuclear-powered submarinesand 57 conventional ones.ADVERTISEMENT
China’s fast-expanding strategic footprint in the Indian Ocean Region hasbeen India’s bugbear and to counter the threat, New Delhi has beenscurrying to establish naval bases overseas. In February, India signed apact with Seychelles to establish naval infrastructure. During his visit toOman, Prime Minister Narendra Modilink signed a Memorandum ofUnderstanding, securing access to the key Port of Duqm for military use andlogistical support.ADVERTISEMENT
With two-thirds of the global oil, half of the container traffic and athird of the cargo traffic passing through it, the IOR holds a specialsignificance for the entire world and India and China are trying to createa strategic influence.
Arch rivals Pakistan has only five diesel-electric submarines at itsdisposal and is on course to induct eight more stealth submarines fromChina. Bangladesh, on the other hand, has only two conventional submarines.
In the East Asian region, apart from China, Japan has the maximum number ofsubmarines at 20, even though none of them are nuclear powered. In fact,North Korea is the only other country in the region to have submarines withballistic missiles. The Kim Jong-un led nation has two SSBs and 15conventional submarines.
In the South-East Asian region, Vietnam has the largest submarine fleet atsix, followed by Indonesia (5), Malaysia (2) and Singapore (4).Surprisingly, none of them are nuclear-powered or have nuclear-tippedmissiles.